


At Present

by yeojasamho



Series: Idol-Verse [2]
Category: The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: Comedy, Eventual Romance, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2019-10-24 17:20:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 58,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17708456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeojasamho/pseuds/yeojasamho
Summary: When an accident at the ISAC games pushes Lee Jaehyun and Choi Juhyun into each other's orbit, their encounter becomes much more than they expected when they're coerced into passing themselves off as a couple to cover up for their own bandmates. As time goes by and the more time they spend being a fake-couple in front of everyone, real feelings begin to develop.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Here I am with another fic. I know, I've been churning out so many fics lately. This time, Hyunjae is the leading man and I hope you guys like it. This was inspired by me watching some old We Got Married episodes. Again, I hope you guys like it~

Five cars were parked at the public parking space of SY Entertainment, the joint company of two of the big three entertainment agencies in Korea. One by one, the members of veteran super girl group Yeosin came out of their respective vehicles, some of them yawning and holding cups of coffee. They brought their bags from the backseat and approached the lobby of their company. “We haven’t been to these events in years,” said Lee Hyunae, the group’s main vocal, whose flaming red hair made her stand out in the sea of blacks and browns, as she sat down on the couch. “Do you think we’ll see anyone we know in there?” she asked. 

Yeosin was among the groups who were to participate in the year’s Idol Star Athletic Championship games, and they were perhaps the only veteran girl group that was going to be present in the midst of all the newcomers and groups who were at the most, only half as old as their group. The girls were participating in the archery and relay games, and upon receiving the news, they often got together after schedules to practice their form and running. 

“I have no idea, I didn’t check the official promo” said Han Yuhee, the group’s youngest and one of the group’s rappers. Yuhee also stood out with her icy blonde hair that, when the sun would hit it, showed tinges of purple and blue. 

The group was in the last stages of preparing for what would seem to be their most outrageous concept for their comeback, inspired by many cartoon and comic characters to further represent their individuality. Yeosin was a group that many dubbed as the immediate successor to 2NE1, but later broke out of that label when they decided to go for more unconventional concepts. They were also known to be one of the few groups that can interact with male idols without the fans getting causing a bad stir. They were just that likable even if they gave off an intimidating aura to most. 

“Juhyun, what do you think?” the second eldest, who was also another one of the vocals of the group, Park Jiwon, asked the girl with very very blonde hair that was almost white, and had vibrant pink and blue tips. 

Choi Juhyun looked up from her phone at the question. “I don’t know either. We’ll probably see some familiar faces, but I doubt we’ll see friends” she shrugged. Juhyun was the leader of the group and the main rapper. The blonde hair made her look incredibly pale, to which she tried to tone down by wearing some tint on her cheeks and lips. She blinked a few times after yawning, trying her hardest not to smudge the eyeliner she carefully put on before leaving her apartment. 

“Do you think we’ll see some cute guys? I heard the ones coming are pretty cute” said the group’s main dancer, Yoon Subin, who was pacing back and forth in front of Yuhee, Hyunae, and Jiwon. She took one last sip of her coffee and tossed the empty cup into the trash bin nearby. Unlike Juhyun, Hyunae, and Yuhee, Subin and Jiwon were the only ones who had the natural brown and black hair colors for their comeback. 

The four girls gave her a look. “While I understand why you’d think that, it pays to be subtle” Yuhee teased. “You were already nearly caught by that reporter on a date with Seungri the other night” she pointed out. 

Subin suddenly sat down, flustered by the maknae’s words. “If you get caught again, you’ll have to tell the company this time” Juhyun advised. 

“Yes, unnie” The main dancer said with a slight frown. Subin had been dating the Big Bang member for two months already, and the two of them had their close calls from the reporters six dates in, at the same time they were preparing for their comeback. It was only a matter of time before their relationship would be exposed, and the members tried their best to cover up for both of them. 

Compared to Subin, Jiwon and Hyunae were already in long-term relationships with their boyfriends. Jiwon was dating the B1A4 member Shinwoo, with their relationship nearing seven years having started a little over a year after their debut. Hyunae on the other hand, was also in an on and off relationship with the former Co:Ed School member Kangho for five years already and this time they were together. Neither relationships were publicized. 

Juhyun also dated. She dated Wu Yi Fan for two years until their relationship ended two years ago as well. They dated when she was three years into her career and he was more than two years in, after he left EXO. The members knew how devastated she was when they broke up, Yi Fan being the one who ended their relationship in order to focus on his promising music and acting career overseas. She hadn’t dated since and their relationship was also never publicized. 

“Time to leave, time to leave,” the group’s manager, Chunhee, appeared from the elevators and holding some car keys. “Everyone here? Okay!” he said cheerily, leading the group to the basement where their van was. 

“I hope the lunchboxes are still warm by the time we give them out” Juhyun said, as they rode the elevator. She ordered over a dozen lunchboxes for the fans the day before, while Jiwon and Yuhee designed the stickers that were on the covers. The group stepped out and boarded the van, on their way to the stadium where the games were going to take place. 

~ 

Two black vans pulled up in the stadium parking lot, and out of each one, the members of The Boyz got out, carrying their bags and backpacks. There was already a crowd waiting for them, some of which were holding very big cameras to take photos and videos of each of the members. 

“Did Mark say they were going?” Jacob asked Kevin as they fell in line for photographs before they were to enter the venue by group. 

“Yeah, they said they’re coming. They must already be inside” Kevin assured the older boy. “Ah, it’s been a while, that guy’s so busy” 

“I know Jeno isn’t going. It’s the 127 hyungdeul” Eric appeared next to the two, having overheard their conversation. “One of the only few times we get to do nothing in the same place and he isn’t going” he remarked. “I was going to introduce him to Felix” 

“Oh!” Changmin, or more famously known as Q, turned to them, his expression slightly hopeful. “127 will be here? Taeyong hyung’s here then!” He beamed, especially excited after formally meeting through their Dispatch special. They became close friends since the special, as did everyone else in their respective groups months after promoting around the same time. 

The rest of the members waved a little to the Stray Kids and Golden Child members and they stopped in front of the press, rearranging themselves in their usual formation. “Ah, Juyeon hasn’t stopped talking about the movie he saw last night” Hyunjae commented as they entered the changing rooms where they got dressed into the pink tracksuits that represented their team. 

“It was a nice movie!” Juyeon argued, fixing his hair in front of the mirror a few times. 

“What movie was it?” Sangyeon asked, pulling on his pink jacket and passed around their name tags. 

“Serendipity,” Hyunjae replied before Juyeon could speak. “Fortunate accidents very rarely happen, though, especially in love?” 

“How would you know? Have you been in love?” Younghoon suddenly teased, and everyone laughed. “Besides, it’s why the word means a fortunate accident. You probably wouldn’t be able to tell even if it hit you in the face” 

Hyunjae chuckled and stuck his nametag on. “You wouldn’t either, Younghoon” he said. “But we can all agree that Juyeon already couldn’t” he laughed loudly. 

Juyeon just ignored him and piled his clothes on top of his bag. “I watched that too, it was a nice movie” Changmin agreed, and laughed at what he saw on Jacob, Kevin, and Eric’s phone screens. “Yah, why are they like that” he pointed to the meme on Eric’s phone. The younger boy just laughed and put his phone away. He got up. “I can already hear the fans coming in” he said. 

“If two people were really meant to meet, then they will meet” Juyeon simply said. “You never know, the person you pass by these halls may be the one” he grinned in his attempt to tease. 

“That’s true” Sunwoo agreed. “We meet certain people for a reason” 

Hyunjae just smiled. He wasn’t a firm believer in signs. He was more of a realist, and always preferred to see things as it is. But he respected the opinions of his bandmates. Younghoon’s comment did make him think of his own personal experience. He never really talked about it, his own run-in with cupid back in the days before he became a trainee, usually in the form of one-sided crushes. He followed the rest of his members out the door of their changing room, bowing to the senior idols that passed by, and bowing especially low to the five girls, most of whom had very striking hair colors and were wearing black tracksuits that further made them stand out. 

The girls bowed back slightly before walking ahead of them out into the venue where the fans suddenly cheered. “Yeosin sunbaedeul’s here” Chanhee muttered, a little in awe at the sight of their seniors. 

“Hey guys,” They nearly stopped when they saw the NCT members, who were wearing vibrant green tracksuits and all of them exchanged greetings and walked towards the empty seats. 

~ 

Yuhee, Subin, Jiwon, Hyunae, and Juhyun hurried over to the part of the stands where their fans were and waved at them. “Have you all eaten?” Jiwon asked, gesturing towards them. They were met with a resounding “YES” from their fans, cheering them on with their light sticks. 

“Girls, don’t forget these” Chunhee suddenly climbed down to hand them their lightsticks. 

“Wow, you guys went all out with the signs” Subin said with a laugh. 

Juhyun hurried over to take a look and grinned at the sign the fans made. She took her phone out to take a picture. “Did you see the boys we passed by earlier?” Yuhee suddenly approached her. 

She raised a brow. “Who? The Boyz? Yeah, what about them? Think they’re cute?” She teased the maknae. 

Yuhee grinned. “Maybe? Their visuals are no joke, though. Aren’t the NCT kids friends with them? I should ask them about them” she muttered so as no one heard them. “Oh, Hanbin’s here” she waved at the group, who bowed and waved back, giving them a thumbs up. 

“All I know is that I’m too old for them,” Juhyun joked as she took more photos of the banners and glanced at her. “But you’re right, they’re all pretty cute,” She looked up at what was happening on the small platform that had microphones set up. “We have to go there now, meet the guys we’re teamed up with or something. Girls, come down” She called out to the rest of her members, and they followed her to the middle of the venue where everyone else had gathered. 

A few minutes later, the event’s official MCs and the camera crew began filming. The drill was the same as any other year the games were held. The girls’ events took place first, and Yuhee and Subin were to represent the group in the relay races as Juhyun was already going to participate in the archery events. 

“Noonadeul” Hyunae, Jiwon, and Juhyun turned around to see Jaehyun, Taeil, Johnny, and Taeyong approach them. 

“Oh hey boys” The three girls greeted them, exchanging high fives and fist bumps. “Looks like we’re all going to be here for twelve hours, give or take” Hyunae said to them. “Can both of you still make Night Night at this point?” she asked. 

“Of course, you know us” Johnny replied with a wink, and she laughed. 

“I got so bummed when Chanyeol told me he was only doing the bowling event, we could have all hung out, now we don’t know a lot of people here” Jiwon said with a slight frown. “Not even Shinwoo’s here” she muttered under her breath.

“Don’t worry, you’ve got us” Jaehyun assured them with a shy smile. 

They suddenly heard the loud horn, and they turned around to see Yuhee run as fast as she could, jumping over some hurdles on the way. She was in the running for second place and nearly stumbled towards Subin as she handed her the baton. They cheered for their main dancer, so did Jaehyun and the rest of NCT that were with them. Yuhee came in second, and got the silver medal and they cheered as well, so did the fans behind them. 

“Where’s Mark?” Juhyun looked over at Taeil. 

“He’s over there, with The Boyz” Taeil pointed to the only boy wearing bright green in a sea of pink.

She smiled. “It’s good that you guys have more friends” she said. “I know the company’s pretty strict with us”

“Jungwoo’s with his friends from Stray Kids, though” Taeil gestured to the lone green figure amongst the cluster of purple. 

Juhyun only nodded, and they went back to watching what was happening in the event area. 

~

By the time it was the men’s division of the events, the girls all sat down, taking their places behind the other male idols who weren’t participating in the games and just cheered them on. Juhyun got the bronze medal for archery along with Hyunae and Jiwon, and the NCT members cheered for them when they were being awarded. “NCT, NCT, NCT, IKON, NCT, IKON, NCT`” The girls were cheering quietly in their seats, watching the male idols compete against each other in the events. 

“I don’t know who to cheer for anymore, so let’s just cheer for everyone” Hyunae said, and the three of them agreed, waving their lightsticks and clapping along when someone already won. 

Jiwon brought out her phone, pulling the two girls together for a selca, taking a few more photos with their medals afterwards. “I’m going to send this to Shinwoo” she muttered, opening up her kakaotalk and sending the photo. 

Hyunae and Juhyun nudged her, making her groan, while Yuhee and Subin gave the older girl a look. “Can’t you not go a day without talking?” Hyunae asked. “Even here? At a schedule?” 

“I’m not as strong as you” Jiwon pointed out, sending the photo in time before pocketing her phone.

“If you keep doing that, then you’ll likely wind up like Subin” Juhyun joked. “Nearly getting caught every now and then” she added. She excused herself, on her way to the bathroom as the penalty shootouts were about to begin. She bowed back to the juniors she passed by, nearly bumping into one of the guys she knew was a member of The Boyz, Hyunjae, according to the nametag he had on. The two of them were about to head to the bathroom when all of a sudden-

Thud. 

Hyunjae stared in shock, but after a few seconds he immediately went over to her. “Sunbae? Sunbae?” He touched her face. Her nose was bleeding. She got hit hard with a ball that came flying out of nowhere, knocking her out and making her stagger and fall. He knelt down in front of her. “Sunbae? J-Juhyun sunbae?” He kept asking, in the hopes she was conscious enough to answer. “Sunbae?” he asked again, patting her bloody face. 

He leaned forward, not caring that the fans that sat nearby were already peering over at her and whispering amongst themselves. Some of them were even taking photos and filming. Hyunjae leaned over and took a closer look in case there were more injuries. He couldn’t do much else except look and check if she was alright. 

Chunhee suddenly appeared to them, having heard loud whispers coming from the fans at their part of the stands. “What happened?” he asked. 

Hyunjae looked up at him. “Uh, she-she got hit by a ball out of nowhere, now she might be unconscious” he replied. 

“Okay, she’ll have to be taken to the hospital. There’s no time, so can you come with us?” He suddenly asked. 

“Eh? Me?” The question took him by surprise. He still had the penalty shootout to do. 

Sangyeon suddenly appeared, sprinting towards him. “Is there anything wrong?” he asked. “What happened?” He immediately turned to his member. 

“Juhyun was hit in the face by a ball, she’ll have to go to the hospital for treatment. She’s already bleeding” Chunhee quickly bowed in thanks to a fan who offered them tissues and wiped her face. 

“O-okay then, Haknyeon will just have to do it twice, or Sunwoo can take over for you. Go, I’ll explain for you” Sangyeon patted Hyunjae on the shoulder and sprinted back. Hyunjae saw him go up to the officials and the production crew that were nearby, explaining the situation. 

Juhyun’s eyes were slowly opening. “Hmm?” she mumbled, seeing a faint outline of Hyunjae in front of her. 

“Juhyun, time to go to the hospital” Chunhee helped her up, while Hyunjae slung her arm around his shoulders to help her walk. One of the production assistants led them out the back entrance, where they saw an ambulance already waiting and got on. 

“Wait-what?” Juhyun slurred, and her manager was quick to cover her bleeding nose with tissues. Hyunjae moved her hair away from her face so it wouldn’t get bloodied, and as he helped her lie down on the makeshift bed while the paramedics checked on her, he sat down. He was a little worried about a lot of things, on what would happen to their team during the shootout, and what would happen to Juhyun as she lay there, being examined. 

“Uh, so sorry to trouble you. To make up for it, we’ll bring you back to your dorm” Chunhee said. 

Hyunjae could only nod. If the other members could see him now, he thought. 

~ 

He didn’t expect to wind up staying for a few more hours, but as Chunhee told him that he’ll be the one to bring him back to his dorm, he didn’t have a choice but to stay. Hyunjae stayed in the waiting room, noticing some blood had gotten onto his pink jacket. All his things were back at the venue, including his wallet and phone, leaving him with only the television and some of the magazines that were displayed on the side. He was starting to get hungry as well, and he couldn’t help but stare at the vending machine outside. 

Chunhee suddenly appeared. “They’re still getting the results of the X-rays. She might have suffered a concussion. That was a soccer ball, wasn’t it?” He asked. 

Hyunjae nodded. “It was. It happened so suddenly,” he recalled. “One moment we were both walking to the restrooms, the next moment she was on the floor and the ball was rolling away” he said. 

“Did you manage to see who did it?” Chunhee asked, and Hyunjae shook his head. “That person’s probably going to apologize or something. I should tell Jiwon to tell the fans not to send hate comments to the person responsible” he muttered. “Juhyun doesn’t want them to suffer. Already knowing they did it is bad enough, according to her” he explained. 

“I-is she going to be okay?” He asked. 

Chunhee nodded. “Juhyun? Yeah, I hope. But she’s usually pretty strong” he said. “She’ll pull through. Well, I guess I can bring you home for now. Thank you again for your help” He patted his shoulder and they stood up. 

~ 

The news of the accident that occurred spread like wildfire all over social media since the filming. There were online articles about the mishap, and fans of the group tried to investigate who was responsible for the stray ball that hit Juhyun in the face. But there were also articles and social media posts that mentioned Hyunjae helping her out. 

Juhyun sat in the living room of her apartment, her laptop on her lap, seeing the articles circulating online and noticed the flood of messages, Twitter posts, and Instagram comments and direct messages she was getting. Her phone constantly buzzed that she had to put it on “Do not Disturb” mode. Even her own family was constantly messaging her about what happened. It had already been over a week and it was still the hot topic. 

“How are we feeling? Better?” Chunhee suddenly came in, bringing some takeout. 

“Much better, thank you” Juhyun simply replied. 

“You know, good thing your nose wasn’t completely broken, just bleeding, or else you would have to stay in for a few more weeks until that’s better” He said. 

“It’ll also mean a delayed comeback. This is the comeback we’ve been preparing for all year last year, we can’t delay it any longer” Juhyun pointed out. “I didn’t bleach my hair until it hurt not to promote…” she added, frowning at the thought. 

Chunhee just smiled appreciatively. “And you will promote. Your nose and your head just comes first. The doctor said so” 

Juhyun grumbled and scrolled past the articles, switching to watch a video instead. “Did you-” 

“Yes I did. I told Jiwon to tell the fans not to send hate comments to the person because it might have been an accident,” Chunhee cut her off, setting down the pizza box and her favorite iced coffee on the table in front of her. “Don’t you want to make them feel guilty just a little bit?” He teased. 

“How? What good would it do me? It’s already annoying enough that people keep talking about it for some time since I got discharged” Juhyun put her laptop down in time to get a slice of pizza from the coffee table. “They keep mentioning Hyunjae too. I wonder how he’s taking it” she added. 

Chunhee suddenly became quiet upon remembering something, and he looked at her with a guilty face. “Funny you should mention Hyunjae,” he said. Juhyun raised a brow at him mid-bite. “Nothing, nothing. You’re aware we have a meeting at the company later, right?” he asked, quickly changing the subject. 

“Mhmm” Juhyun’s mouth was full. 

“Good, good. I’ll pick you up in about, three hours then?” He asked, and she nodded. “Alright, I’ll be seeing you later” Chunhee said, then got up to show himself out. 

~ 

Meanwhile at The Boyz dorm, Hyunjae was already preparing to leave. He had gotten a call to come into the company for a small meeting. He wondered what it was about. He knew that people kept talking about the accident during the filming, and some of the articles even mention him. Sangyeon had also gotten mentioned, mostly for helping in keeping the situation under control so everyone could resume filming the event. 

“I didn’t think they’d make a fuss over what I did,” He muttered as he fixed his hair in front of the bathroom mirror. “I just helped her” 

“You didn’t just help her, you stayed with her to check if she was going to be alright,” said Hyunjoon, who was brushing his teeth and washing his face. “Sunbae had a bleeding nose, right? I saw those bloodstains on your shoulder when you got back last night” he pointed out. 

“That’s because I left all my stuff in the waiting rooms so I couldn’t contact any of you,” He explained. “And isn’t it the right thing to do? You wouldn’t hesitate to help either” 

The younger boy hummed in agreement. “Lee Jaehyun hyung, now not only viral for his visuals but for helping a senior artist out, and a girl at that” He teased. “Sooner or later, the fans are going to pair you two up, and” he pretended to gasp. “Dating scandal!” and he laughed. 

Hyunjae just smiled and closed the bathroom door, leaving him alone. He sat back down on the couch where his laptop was. Their manager wasn’t going to pick him up until later so he had some time to catch up on his games. He came across another article describing the accident yet again, and he sighed, scrolling past. 

“The knight in shining armor is playing a game,” Sunwoo suddenly appeared and he looked up. “So many of Yeosin’s fans are thanking you for what you did, didn’t you see?” He showed the older boy his phone, scrolling through the response tweets to a selca he posted the other day. “They seem really nice too. They’re all becoming a The B because of you, that’s really nice” he added, looking through the tweets himself. 

Hyunjae shook his head slightly and logged back onto his game. He didn’t find it necessary to be mentioned, but it was nice that they gained more fans because he did a good deed. “Aren’t you doing anything today? I thought you were going to meet up with… Jaemin, was it? Or Jeno?” 

“We’ll be meeting later. They’re really excited because they haven’t been out for fun in a while. The 00-line squad is back!” Sunwoo replied, beaming at the thought. “We’ll hang out again once YangYang comes back from China, he’s been teaching me German phrases” he added, walking back into the room he shared with Younghoon and Juyeon. 

They spend a little too much time together, Hyunjae thought as he focused on his game again. Then again, he contacted some of them a lot too. He was pretty close with his namesake, Jaehyun, and he had yet to warm up to Winwin. 

~ 

That night, Chunhee pulled up in front of the LOEN Entertainment building. “We’re just going to take a little detour,” he said, suddenly finding it hard to look Juhyun in the eye as she looked out the window. “Do you mind if we give a friend of mine a ride? She’ll be coming out of there in a bit with some friends” he asked. 

Juhyun looked confused and a little surprised. “O-of course?” she replied, unsure if it was even right or not. She took out her phone and went onto playing a little game she had. It made sense that they could give his friend and her friends a ride because the car she was in was big enough to fit two or three of them, but it didn’t make sense that Chunhee was willing to do that. Not wanting to think about it further, she focused on her game. 

The door on the other side suddenly opened and she nearly fell out. The door of the passenger’s seat in front also opened, and a man got inside, followed by a woman, and to her surprise, Hyunjae, was pushed into getting in. “Close the door before someone sees us, quickly!” the woman said in a hushed tone. 

“O-oh, sunbaenim,” Hyunjae bowed to her and she nodded back, shoving her phone back into her handbag. “I see the nose is all better” he added, trying to be friendly. He was just as confused and surprised as she was. 

“Hey, hey, what’s all this about?” Juhyun asked, looking at Hyunjae, at the man and the woman, and then at Chunhee, who still had a very guilty expression on his face. 

The man and the woman looked at each other and then at all of them. The woman brought out a piece of paper and a pen, and Hyunjae noticed she was scribbling down their names at the very bottom. “What is that?” he asked. 

The man then cleared his throat to speak. “We don’t have much time, so we might as well get down to it. Your interaction during that ISAC accident was among the top searches on Naver this whole week,” he began. “This certainly coincides with something that has unfortunately tipped off the press, particularly Dispatch” he explained. 

“Which is?” Juhyun asked, noticing the woman scribble down what looked like an entire paragraph at the very top. “Hey, what’s that?” she asked the woman, who didn’t answer. 

Chunhee turned to face them this time. “Dispatch is threatening to expose Subin and Seungri’s relationship. They have photos of them, the copies were sent to the company earlier today, and they’re asking for something in return for us trying to keep their relationship out of the papers” he explained calmly. 

“At the same time, our company, Creker Entertainment, is also getting threats from Dispatch about those claims made by fans online regarding Chanhee and his life before he debuted as a member of The Boyz” the man explained. “We’ve been keeping these things under control, the claims are baseless, but they’re trying to threaten us to get something in exchange for not publishing that article they’ve got written” 

“So what are we here for?” Hyunjae asked. 

“We want you to pass yourselves off as a couple, to steer the public’s attention away and to keep the threats down” The woman now spoke. 

Hyunjae and Juhyun gaped at the three of them. They couldn’t believe what they were hearing. The three of them looked serious even. They didn’t know what to say. Was this a hidden camera prank? They couldn’t even tell. Hyunjae suddenly remembered what Hyunjoon told him hours before he left. They would get paired up by the fans and dating rumors would begin to come, but he never thought it would happen a little over a week since the accident. Juhyun never thought she’d be subject to this either. She blinked a few times to see if this was a mistake. Maybe the blow to the head she suffered did something to her brain, she thought. But they remained serious, and anticipating what they would say. 

The two of them looked at each other, and then back at the three. “Does our CEO know about this?” Juhyun asked her manager. 

“Yes, it’s why he thought that you would probably be up for the responsibility,” Chunhee said. “All of you have been trying to cover for Subin and Seungri since they started dating, and this seems like the only option because Dispatch is going to make this messy if we say no” he explained. 

“This-this isn’t a hidden camera prank, is it? Juyeon’s the one with the birthday this month, not me, Kevin’s is next month” Hyunjae asked. Chanhee did open up to them before about his past, but he never expected that the press would decide to sensationalize it. Just when, as he remembered Sunwoo saying, they were gaining a lot of fans because of what he did during the filming. 

“We wouldn’t push this kind of thing on you if we weren’t serious” The woman said. “If you two do this, you’d be doing your bandmates a big favor” she explained. 

“B-but how would we be doing that? We’d only be adding fuel to the fire, especially if there are fans who know about his groupmate’s past,” Juhyun said quietly, a slight frown on her face. “And there are people who are beginning to suspect Subin and Seungri too” 

“The publicity both of you received was good, and we’re going to build on that good publicity,” The man in the passenger seat answered. “If the news breaks that both of you are actually dating, you’d be surprised at how understanding the fans can be, especially with you, Juhyun. I know you’ve got so many reservations about this” he said. 

“I do. But what is this going to do to his career? He’s still a rookie, isn’t it too early to do something like this? To him and to his group, I might add” Juhyun gestured to Hyunjae, who was still trying to process this idea. 

“We know, but unfortunately there’s not much else we can do. Yeosin’s having a comeback, right? In a week’s time too, right?” The woman said. Juhyun nodded. “People will tune into your group’s comeback all the more because of this kind of news” 

“Plus, it’s not like both of you are dating other people right now anyway,” Chunhee said. “Juhyun, Hyunjae, please do this.” He quietly urged them. 

The two of them looked at each other again, and back at the three. “What do you think?” Juhyun muttered. 

“If it’s to keep Chanhee from getting more hate, then I’ll do it” Hyunjae nodded. “What about you?” 

“If I don’t do this, then all the covering up we’ve been doing would end up for nothing,” Juhyun said. “I’ll do it” 

“Thank you” The man said. Chunhee still looked so guilty and apologetic. “The PR team of your company will be made aware of this agreement. Our mutual story behind this is that both of you have been officially dating for three months, and the two of you met through a mutual friend who shall remain unnamed” 

“Jaehyun” The two of them said in unison, then suddenly glanced at each other. 

The man smiled a little. “Hyunjae would be spotted coming to your musicals too. You went to one, right? During your little break a few months back?” he asked. 

“I did. I really liked the show. Saw it with Haknyeon” Hyunjae replied. 

“Good, very good. At least we’ve got Hyunjae planted on Juhyun somehow,” The man said. “The most you’ll have to stay as a couple will be one year” 

Juhyun and Hyunjae stared at him. “One year?” 

“Yes, one year. Both of you will also meet up every week for your dates, try and keep the photos you post subtle, yet in a way that fans can still detect that the two of you are on a date,” The man explained. “Both of you are active on social media, right?” 

The two of them shook their heads. “Now you’ll have to, but mostly you, Juhyun” Chunhee said. “Remember, when people spot the two of you both of you have to look like you’re in love, this seems to be a start since you’re sitting together” he gestured to them. “Hold hands, wear couple stuff, the usual.” 

“Think of this as an acting gig. Hyunjae, didn’t you say you can act well?” The woman turned to him. Hyunjae nodded. “This is your chance to do it. Both of you have to be very convincing when the two of you are together. Here’s the contract that both of you will sign” she handed them the piece of paper. She took out an ink pad from her purse and handed them the pen. 

“The party of the first part, Lee Jaehyun, stage name Hyunjae, and Choi Juhyun, are under contract to be a couple for six months up to one year, for the party of the second part, SG Entertainment and Creker Entertainment depending on…” Juhyun read out the first paragraph, trailing off when Hyunjae signed his name at the bottom. Passing her the pen, she signed her name as well, and the woman held out the ink pad for them to place their thumbprints above their signatures. 

“This contract is now legally binding” The woman said. 

“Do we get some sort of compensation for this?” Juhyun asked. “Isn’t that what’s usually asked in return for doing something like this?” 

“The clothes, and the money for the dates, airfare and accommodations if both of you are needed to be spotted out of town, the works” Chunhee said, making them stare at him. 

“Out of town? Like on trips?” Hyunjae asked. 

“Yeah. Song Hye Gyo was spotted in Bali the same time Song Joongki was there, and look at them now? They’re married” The man said. “Both of you can tell your members what’s going on, so they won’t be caught by surprise, but do not tell the ones involved that you’re doing this for them” he added. “Don’t tell Subin, don’t tell Chanhee, they do not know this is an agreement” 

“We now have a deal, okay? Thank you both very much for your time, we’ll have to see you both tomorrow for the pictures and your bank details so we can transfer some funds. We’ll give you your phone numbers so you can talk” The man and the woman got down from the car. “Hyunjae” 

Hyunjae and Juhyun looked at each other. They found it hard to say something about this sudden change in relationship. Hyunjae instead nodded and got down from the car, closing the door and followed the two inside the building.


	2. Chapter 2

Hyunjae returned to the dorm later that night. That turned out to be the meeting he was being called for. Now he was wondering how he could break the news to his everyone. He took his shoes off, being as quiet as possible as he went to his room, where Haknyeon was already asleep on the top bunk. He got dressed and sat on his bed, turning on his little night light to use his laptop. 

Hey everyone guess what, I’m in a relationship with Juhyun sunbae now but don’t worry it’s just a cover up for another problem, he thought, then shook his head. It sounded so silly, even more knowing that it was actually the truth. It was so awkward and so unexpected and so complicated. He was doing this for Chanhee, for the group, but even knowing why he agreed to do it left a bad taste in his mouth. Lee Jaehyun does not do relationships like this. 

“Hyung,” he heard Haknyeon say, and the younger boy peeked down from his bed. “You’re back.” 

“Hmm? Yes I am. Go back to sleep” He replied. 

“I got hungry. How did the meeting go? It’s a bit late, isn’t it?” Haknyeon asked curiously. 

Hyunjae shrugged. “It was okay. I’ve got another meeting tomorrow.” 

Haknyeon raised a brow. “Okay? Just okay? What did they call you in for anyway?” He asked, climbing down the bunk and sitting on the edge of the older boy’s bed. He sensed that there was something off. “Are you okay?” 

Hyunjae glanced at him, then closed his laptop. “It wasn’t just any other meeting,” he began, trying his best to say it. He wasn’t really one to open up about what he was going through, but in this case he felt like it. It was Haknyeon asking, someone he’s known for a long time. He held up his thumb that still had the ink. “The meeting was about a publicity stunt that I have to get involved with. Chanhee’s already getting a lot of hate comments, right?” He asked, and the younger boy nodded. “Well, Dispatch is threatening the company to give them something in exchange not to publish the article about it.” 

The younger boy gaped at him. “What stunt would that be, then?” 

“I,” Hyunjae swallowed hard. “I have to pretend that I’m dating Juhyun sunbae” he explained. 

Haknyeon gaped at him even more that he had to close his mouth for him. “What?? But why you? Why her? Why?” 

He sighed. “They said that this will be able to steer attention away from those issues. Juhyun sunbae also has something to cover up. Subin sunbae is dating Seungri sunbae, and the members have been covering for both of them, but Dispatch is threatening to publicize their relationship unless she agrees to pretend to be dating me too,” he explained. “They’re trying to build on the good publicity from the ISAC accident over to this one.” 

“Whoa…” Haknyeon said with a frown. “I guess New hyung can’t know about this huh?” 

Hyunjae shook his head. “I can tell him what I’m doing, and that this is a publicity stunt, but I can’t tell him why. You have to promise not to tell him either” he said. 

“Of course, hyung. I’m glad I asked then, because you’d blow up, keeping all that to yourself,” Haknyeon said. “When are you going to tell the rest?” 

“Tomorrow. We’ll be going over the plan again, and they’ll give us some money to keep up with this whole stunt,” Hyunjae answered. “I can’t say I’m not nervous. It’s awkward enough.” 

Haknyeon nodded. “You and Juhyun sunbae, huh?” He suddenly grinned. “Both of you have to be very convincing, though. Can you do it?” 

“I hope I can. Yah,” Hyunjae laughed at the younger boy’s reaction. “We’ve only said hi to each other during the games and that was before she got hit by that ball.” 

“That was a very hard ball, by the way,” Haknyeon recalled the game. “I can see why she got knocked out.” 

“It’s really odd. People are still trying to find out who did it” Hyunjae said. 

“I saw articles online saying it was some idol who has now refused to show his face afterwards,” Haknyeon shrugged. “The fans probably know who did it, they’re just not saying anything.” 

Hyunjae shrugged as well. “Shouldn’t they have apologized by now?” 

~ 

Meanwhile, Juhyun met up with her bandmates at the company cafe after a late night practice Subin was once again, out on a date with Seungri, so she wound up explaining everything. The three other girls just stared at her. “Really? Well… Dispatch is going to make this messy, it’s Dispatch..” Jiwon said with a slight frown. 

“I can’t believe the CEO is making you and Hyunjae pull a Baekhyun and Taeyeon on everyone…” Yuhee said. “But then if you said no, all the covering we’ve been doing for Subin would be for nothing.” 

“I know” Juhyun showed them her thumb that still had the ink. 

Hyunae looked annoyed. “Dispatch really sucks. I’m sorry you have to go through this” she said. 

“I can take it. I’ll just treat this like some acting gig, better me than any of you,” Juhyun assured them. “I just feel bad for Hyunjae. He’ll have it worse than me. He’s still a rookie” she said. 

The three girls nodded. “Only a foot in the door and he’s already asked to do something like this,” Yuhee said with a frown. She looked at the two older girls. “The least we can do is try and help them, you know? We’ll all power through, we’re not rookies anymore, so we should use our seniority to our advantage and protect the boys too” she suggested. 

“Except if we do that, they’ll think Hyunjae’s a coward for hiding behind Juhyun,” Jiwon said. “There’s so many things that can go wrong. Juhyun’s practically walking on a minefield, him too.” 

“Tomorrow I’ll be going back to his company building, switch numbers and give my bank details. They said they’d take care of the expenses to compensate for this” Juhyun explained. “Hyunjae and I barely even said a word to each other and now we’re pretending to be a couple” 

“That’s because he was the one who helped you when you got hit by that ball,” Jiwon smiled. “He even went with you and Chunhee to the hospital and stayed there for a bit, you know,” she added. “If I were you, I’d just see the bright side of this situation. He’s a cute guy, kind of like Jaehyun, but he’s the one pretending to be your boyfriend” 

“Johnny told me his real name’s Jaehyun too” Juhyun said. 

“See?” They chuckled. “Juhyun and Jaehyun. Double Hyun, or JuJae” Yuhee teased. 

“Make sure you dress up nicely for tomorrow, unnie,” Hyunae reminded her. “You have to look good, at least good enough that both of you look good. I’m sure he’ll be doing the same” she said. 

Juhyun only nodded and stared at her coffee, which was still half-full. This was going to be a challenge, a big challenge, but she was up for it. This would be like any other acting gig. She’d be playing an anti-hero at best, mostly a villain to the fans. She’d have to prepare for what would be the biggest backlash she’s faced so far, in her nearly eight years of being in the industry. She was lucky with her actual boyfriends that they never got caught, but this time was different. 

~ 

Hyunjae broke the news to everyone else in the dorm the next day, and as he had expected, they were shocked. They stared at him and for a moment, he thought they had all frozen, save for Haknyeon. Sangyeon looked especially concerned most of all. “...So both of you agreed that you two met through Jaehyun?” was all he could manage to ask. He nodded. 

“...How long will this stunt be?” Hyunjoon asked. 

“Six months to a year” Hyunjae said. 

“SIX MONTHS TO A YEAR?!” They gaped at him. 

“But that’s a bit long, isn’t it?” Jacob looked even more concerned. “That must be a very big problem that you two are trying to cover up.” 

“That was exactly our reaction when we asked. They even made us sign a contract and everything. See?” Hyunjae showed them his thumb, that now only had a faint purple stain. 

“Will you at least be compensated for all this trouble?” Kevin spoke this time. 

“Yeah, the companies will fund this whole stunt of ours. We’ll be meeting again today, go over what we have to do one more time before it begins” He said. 

Sunwoo gave the older boy an encouraging pat on the back. “Well, at least we know the truth. There are honestly so many things that could go wrong, but I believe that if we just keep going, we’ll come out of this better,” he said. “Hyung and sunbae are doing all of this to keep a problem from getting worse.” 

Haknyeon patted Hyunjae on the back as well. “What do you think we can do?” They all looked at each other. 

“It’s not like Juhyun sunbae’s a terror to be with, though, if you look at it in another way,” said Changmin, making everyone look at him. “Taeyong hyung told me how nice she is, and that she took care of them whenever she saw them” he explained. 

“Yeah, Jeno says she’s really cool,” Eric said. “Both of you have to stay strong, this might not sit well with everyone else that doesn’t know.” 

“Good point, it’s just awkward because we never spoke to each other when we met, she was barely conscious that time,” Hyunjae said. He got up when he realized what he was doing. “But better get this over with before it blows up on our faces. I should get ready” He put his now-empty coffee cup in the sink and went back to his room.

Once the door closed, the rest of them looked at each other. “Good luck, Hyunjae” They muttered, quietly eating their breakfast. 

Hyunjae showered and got dressed, making sure to look his best for the meeting ahead. He didn’t know when this would officially start. Did it already start last night, when they signed the contract? He didn’t really know, so he wanted to be prepared. He couldn’t sleep well last night from thinking about what he was going to do, what he was practically risking. But there he was, there they were. He fixed his hair a few times in the bathroom mirror, deciding to keep it as it is, a little tousled. 

The more he thought about it as he got ready, it was like going on a blind date. Except that there was a contract involved. He made a mental list of things to do when the fake relationship officially started: 

-Get her number  
-Take as many pictures as possible  
-Send her messages in case proof is needed  
-Get to know her, well beyond what was written on her profile page on her agency’s website  
-Ask about clothes so he could match with her   
-Look up her schedule

He repeated those things to himself while he sprayed on some cologne, grabbing his wallet and his phone along with his headphones. If they were going to be left alone after their meeting, then it would be a chance for the two of them to talk. 

Meanwhile at Juhyun’s place, she was fussing in front of her closet for an outfit to wear. Some of the clothes she normally wore were still in her laundry hamper, and most of what was in front of her was something she only wore once or twice. “Black, white, and grey, what am I? Depressed?” she mumbled, looking through her clothes some more. 

Once she was finally dressed, settling on a pair of polka dot shorts and a graphic tee, she fixed her hair, running a brush through it several times to straighten out. She needed to look decent as other than not knowing who she might bump into while at the meeting, she didn’t know if they were going to start “dating” or at least make it seem like that to everyone else. Juhyun heard the front door open and Chunhee’s loud singing voice. “Juhyun, I’ve got breakfast, and,” she heard a big thud. “Some more fan letters for you to read.” 

“Great!” She called out, putting on her earrings and taking her purse, closing the door of her room behind her as she walked out to greet her manager. “So, what do you think? Do I look okay?” 

“Yes you look okay,” Chunhee gave an approving nod. “You always dress like that whenever you go out, though, and before you say anything, I didn’t mean it as a bad thing” he said, noticing her reaction. He slid the container that had a breakfast sandwich and her favorite cup of iced coffee. 

“Thanks,” Juhyun grabbed the container and the cup. “If we’re running late, I may as well eat this on the way” she said, swallowing when she felt how warm the sandwich was through the container. 

Her manager looked at her, and he began to look apologetic. “I know this is going to be hard, but at least you’ll have a new friend, if it makes you feel any better” he tried to console her. 

She gave him a look. “Yeah, I know. Jiwon told me to really get into the role. I make for an awkward girlfriend” she took a sip of coffee. 

“Oh come on, you’ll be fine. You don’t easily give in under pressure” Chunhee assured her. Juhyun gave him a look. “Well, almost never, but still! Almost never give in under pressure. We’ll all be here for the two of you.” 

~ 

Both cars arrived at the LOEN building again, Juhyun put on her cap as she got down, and she saw Hyunjae get down from his. They exchanged small smiles and he bowed to her and she bowed back as they went inside altogether. “Have you been well?” He asked her when they stepped inside the elevator. 

She nodded. “I’m okay. How are you?” she asked. 

“I’m okay too” he replied. It was so awkward with both their managers standing behind them on the way up to one of the meeting rooms in the building. 

“Oh, here, we brought this for you” His manager suddenly spoke, and he stood aside to hand her a box of donuts. 

Juhyun chuckled, bowing in thanks as she took them. “Oh, now I feel bad, I came here empty-handed,” she said, opening the box to take a look at what was inside. She turned to Hyunjae. “Tell me what you want, and I’ll get it” she said. 

Hyunjae shook his head. “No, no, it’s okay, I uh,” he glanced at his manager. He only knew about the donuts just now. “I have a lot of chicken at the dorm-I mean, the members will probably order chicken when I get back.” 

She immediately caught onto the thought. “Oh, you like chicken too? Maybe after this meeting we can have some. I used to give Jongin food when they first debuted” she said quietly. 

The elevator doors opened and they were led down a hallway where the meeting room was. Hyunjae opened the door and they were greeted by the man and the woman who arranged the whole thing, including a guy holding a camera. They bowed at the man and the woman, and the guy holding the camera shook their hands. “Please, sit down, all of you” the man said, and they sat across from them. 

“So, we got your bank details and we’re currently getting someone to transfer the funds to your respective accounts” he began. The woman suddenly brought out a folder and slid a piece of paper to them. “The official statements that will come from both agencies about your relationship,” the woman showed them another piece of paper. “And drafts of your personal messages to the fans that you can post on the fancafe or, in your case,” he glanced at Juhyun.”Your personal sns accounts. You can change the wording of each one so it sounds more natural, so fans won’t suspect anything.” 

Juhyun and Hyunjae nodded, scanning the messages and the agency statements. “Anything else we need to know?” she asked. 

“Ah, he’s Junyeol, and he will be assigned to take paparazzi photos of both of you so we can give those to Dispatch,” the woman gestured to the guy with the camera, who bowed towards them. “Let him know where the two of you will be every week, so he’ll take pictures and make them look as candid as possible” she explained. 

“You two can trust me,” Junyeol assured them. “I’ll also double as your secret bodyguard” he said. 

“But why not us?” Chunhee suddenly asked. 

“Because it’ll be too obvious if both of you were present during their dates,” the woman said. “At least Junyeol can look out for them without being too suspicious.” 

“What about transportation?” Hyunjae asked. “How are we going to meet each other?”

“As much as possible, take a taxi, or borrow a car. Do both of you have driver’s licenses?” the woman asked. 

“I do” Juhyun raised her hand, while Hyunjae shook his head. 

The man and the woman glanced at each other. “Weren’t you able to take public transportation before?” the man asked Juhyun. 

“Yeah” 

“Then why not take a bus? Or a subway together?” the man said. 

They gave him a look. “Isn’t that too much? What if she gets harassed by a scorned person?” Chunhee intervened. “It’s happened to other idols before, it can happen again now” he said, concern evident in his voice. “What if Hyunjae gets hurt or something? Their safety is of the utmost importance” 

“Okay, okay, it was just a thought,” the man backed off. “We’ll work out transportation later. For now, most of the details are made clear, do both of you understand?” He turned his focus back on Juhyun and Hyunjae. 

“We understand” The two of them said. 

“Excellent. Starting today, your fake relationship officially begins, and both of you do look good together,” The woman declared with a small smile on her face. “There is a cafe not far from here, both of you can go there now and get something to eat” she said. 

“Uh, okay, but uh,” Juhyun held up the box of donuts. “Can’t we eat somewhere else? Like in here for example? I promised him I’d get him chicken” she gestured to Hyunjae, who suddenly got flustered. She felt a little lurch in her stomach too, from the nervousness she was feeling now that things have officially begun. 

The two, including Junyeol, smiled. “Okay, we can leave both of you alone in case you want some privacy,” the woman said, and she stood up, gesturing for both the man and Junyeol to do the same. She also gestured to their managers, who got up with slight reluctance and left them in the room. 

Juhyun and Hyunjae watched them leave, and as the door closed behind them, they breathed big sighs of relief. “And then I thought it wouldn’t end” He said with a nervous chuckle. 

“Yeah,” she nodded, placing the box on the table. She took out her phone and held it out for him. “Put your number” she simply said. 

If he was going to pretend to be her boyfriend, he’d better get comfortable, he thought, taking her phone to put his number in and saved it. “You should put yours in here too” he held his own phone out for her to put her number in. He suddenly remembered his little list. “S-since we’re going to be doing this for a while, I think we should be comfortable with each other” 

She nodded. “In that case, don’t call me noona. I find it weird” she said. 

“Understood….Juhyun” Hyunjae found it hard to drop the honorific, but he went through with it. 

“What about you? You’re a Jaehyun too, right?” she asked. “Would you prefer Hyunjae? Or Jaehyun?” 

He shrugged. “Whichever one you’re comfortable with” he replied. 

Juhyun nodded. “Hyunjae then, so I don’t confuse you and Jaehyun together,” she chuckled, looking at the donuts in front of her. “Uh, I haven’t thanked you yet for what you did for me, last week? Thank you” she said. 

Hyunjae shook his head. “It’s no problem at all,” he said quietly. He glanced at her, remembering the list again. “So..” 

“So…” Juhyun also said, quietly trying to figure out what he wanted to say. “Oh yeah, I’ll order you some chicken,” she sat up, and called the nearest chicken place. Hyunjae watched her order, and when she hung up, he looked down at his hands. “And done. It’ll come in a half-hour. What did you want to say?” she asked, trying to keep their conversation going. 

“I was thinking that we take a lot of pictures, and at least send each other messages in case they want some proof” He suggested. 

“Good idea,” she agreed. “Maybe a good morning and good night text will do, and we’ll reply with the same thing, is that good?” and he nodded. She saw a notification from her Kakaotalk. “Same goes for kakaotalk messages, I guess” 

“Yeah, that’s good..” Hyunjae looked at his own phone too, seeing the kakaotalk notification also appear when he went on the app. “We-we should also get each other’s schedules, so we know when and where we can meet and go to” he suggested. 

Juhyun chuckled nervously. “You’ve thought it out, haven’t you?” she asked. “I don’t blame you, both our members’ reputations are on the line, we need to do well. I’ll give you my schedule. I’ve got another musical coming up, I can get you tickets for my shows” 

“That would be nice,” He smiled. He was warming up to her the more they talked, and so did she. “And, our fan con is coming up too. Do you want to come?” 

“Sure, at least I’ll try to. I probably could,” Juhyun nodded. She had a lot of time before and after the music shows and the fansigns that followed. She looked over at him. “We’ll be faced with a lot of criticism once this gets out,” her tone changed to a serious, yet apologetic one. “I just want you to know that we’ll face this together, for the people we’re doing this for” 

Hyunjae’s expression fell slightly. “I know. For now, let’s focus on the present. No one has yet to know, we’ll at least try and make our “relationship” look convincing” he said. 

She agreed. The door opened and Chunhee arrived with the chicken she ordered for him. “Here you go, both of you, enjoy your food” he also set down bottles of water and cola and left the room again. 

~ 

Hyunjae and Juhyun ate their food quietly, sharing the chicken and the donuts with each other. The silence eventually ended up with them talking more, getting to know each other past what was written on their profiles, from their favorite shows to favorite books and what they’d rather choose to do on a free day. “I’d rather sleep, and play games if I didn’t have anything to do at all” Hyunjae said, wiping his mouth with a wet tissue. 

“Me too, I’d rather get some sleep. There are days where I’d end up sleeping in the studio overnight,” Juhyun agreed, and Hyunjae laughed. “Yeah, but there’s a bathroom here where I can shower, so I’m okay. I just need to bring my clothes in and out.”

“We surprisingly have a lot in common,” Hyunjae commented. “I always thought we’d be too different, but I guess it isn’t the case” 

“Yeah,” she glanced at him. She looked at the time on her phone and stood up. “Ooh, I have to go. I’ve got rehearsals and practice for our comeback. My teaser came out last night” she showed him the photo she saved on her phone. The blue and pink tips of her very blonde hair more vibrant than ever. 

“That looks pretty, and cool too,” Hyunjae stood up as well. “I’ll walk you to your car” he said. 

They cleaned up and left the room, seeing their managers and Junyeol waiting outside and talking a little animatedly to each other. “Oppa, I’m going to be late for rehearsals” she tapped Chunhee’s shoulder. 

Her manager immediately stood at attention. “Already? Okay” he said, bidding the other manager goodbye. “Junyeol, Hyunjae’s going to walk her to the car, you can go ahead.” 

Junyeol gave a nod and sprinted to the elevators and disappeared. The three of them rode in another elevator. “The name of the musical is Moulin Rouge, after the movie,” Juhyun told him. “As for what part I’ll play, you’ll have to see” she laughed, and Hyunjae smiled. 

“We’ll meet next week?” He asked, and she nodded. “We should plan our clothes in advance so we match” he suggested. 

“Sure, we’ll call each other the day before we’ll meet and figure out clothes by then” Juhyun nodded. 

They reached the ground floor. This was it, they both thought to themselves. Hyunjae suddenly grabbed her hand and she laced their fingers together, the two of them standing closer to each other as the elevator doors opened. They stepped out and smiled at each other as they walked to the exit. Some of the staff that came in were immediately drawn to the two of them and they way they looked at each other. 

“Is it working?” Hyunjae asked through gritted teeth, and she hummed in response. He let go of her hand to wrap an arm around her waist as they walked, Juhyun standing close to him and doing the same. 

They spotted Junyeol at the very far corner of the parking lot, and Chunhee led them to the car. “You should probably keep that hairstyle when we meet, it looks great on you” she said. 

Chunhee got in the car, leaving the two of them. “I’ll see you next week” he said with a small smile, fixing and ruffling his hair at the same time to keep it tousled. 

Juhyun let go and gave him a thumbs up. “See you next week” she got in and when the car door closed, Chunhee drove away. 

It went a lot better than he thought. He had a feeling that it was going to go very well, at least between the two of them. Hyunjae went over the mental list he had in mind, satisfied when he realized that he was able to get what he needed, and hoped she did too. 

She looked out the window, seeing him still standing there and turning around to go back inside the building. She smiled to herself. “I guess you two talking went well?” Chunhee suddenly asked. 

“Hmm? Yeah, it did. At least we’re not going to rip each other’s heads off throughout this agreement” Juhyun answered, looking at her phone and sending him a message: It was nice meeting you today, followed by a Joker card emoji. 

She wasn’t waiting for him to reply back, but she sat up when she heard her phone ping. 

Hyunjae: Why the emoji? 

Juhyun chuckled, and typed in her reply. 

Juhyun: Because I felt like joking around, ha ha ha 

~ 

That night, at the practice room, Hyunjae sat down on the side, watching Kevin and Sunwoo rehearse their special stage for their fan con. “So, how did it go?” Haknyeon asked, and some of them turned their attention to him. 

“It went well, surprisingly well” He replied, then laughed as he remembered what they talked about earlier. 

“See? Juhyun sunbae’s not bad” Changmin nodded knowingly. 

“She might have to deal with you, hyung” Hyunjoon teased, and they laughed. 

“Hey, it’s not like that at all. We got along after we found out what else we needed to know,” He remembered the personal statements that they’d have to type out in their own words later after the news would break. “She ordered me chicken, in return for our manager getting her donuts earlier” he explained, almost bragging about it. 

“Wow, it does sound like both of you had a good time,” Sangyeon nodded. “At least you don’t have to dread seeing her, huh?” 

“Nope, it makes having to do this a lot more bearable” He said. 

“Good. Sorry we can’t do anything much to help,” Eric said. “You can do this” he gave the older boy an encouraging pat. 

“By now, you probably know her schedule, don’t you?” Kevin suddenly asked, having just finished practicing. 

“Sort of. I got her number too” Hyunjae showed them the number on his phone. Instead of feeling a little relieved, they looked more impressed. “What? What are those looks for?” he asked curiously. 

“Hyunjae hyung got a girl’s phone number, now I’ve seen everything” Hyunjoon teased, and they burst into laughter, the older boy getting flustered. 

“What if you end up liking her for real, though? That would really be something” It was Juyeon’s turn to tease, and Hyunjae got flustered even more. “She is pretty though, things might really happen between the two of you” he grinned. 

“Yeah, then it would really make him eat his words about serendipity” Younghoon teased him as well. 

“Yeah yeah, and her members would be like our in-laws” Jacob said with a wide grin on his face, and they were all laughing even more. 

If Hyunjae wasn’t as red as a tomato before, he certainly felt like he was now.


	3. Chapter 3

Hyunjae and Juhyun met up again the following week. It was already getting late, and they were finished with their schedules of the day, Juhyun having just finished the press call for her musical. She stood out like a sore thumb because of her hair, which she made sure to tie in a bun to hide the blue and pink tips. It didn’t make much of a difference, but to her, it was better than letting it hang out. Hyunjae on the other hand, had his hair dyed brown again after being blonde for a while. 

As they were instructed, the company reserved a table for the two of them at a nice restaurant that they had to go to for their first “date.” Juhyun had to subtly hint their relationship through her Instagram posts, which were still being flooded with an onslaught of comments about her recovery and her nearly-broken nose. Although she appreciated the well wishes of many, she wasn’t fond of the constant reminder of what happened. 

Hyunjae was also on the receiving end of a lot of tweets and replies recalling the accident and what he did. He had been called a gentleman, a hero, a “king of helping others” as one put it. 

“Was it hard for you to find this place?” He asked quietly as they gave a slight not to Junyeol, who walked off to the nearest convenience store to get something to eat in the meantime. Hyunjae chose to take a taxi to get to the restaurant. 

She shook her head. “Not at all, I think I’m pretty good with directions,” she said, pocketing her car keys. “What about you?” 

They stepped inside, and they could tell the head waiter immediately recognized them as he held his breath at the sight of Juhyun. “Table for two, we have a reservation” Hyunjae said quietly. 

“Yes, yes, corner table, let me show you” The head waiter said. It was then that they realized how fancy the place was and how slightly underdressed they seemed to be. The lights were dim, and tealights lit each table, but everything seemed to be bathed in colors of black, white, and gold. 

Their table was far enough to give off a secretive impression but visible enough for Junyeol to take photos from outside. The head waiter sat them down and offered them the menus, walking off to tend to the other incoming customers. Juhyun looked around. “This place is a little too fancy for me,” she chuckled. “Not exactly the place I’d go to for a first date.” 

“Where would you go on a first date?” He asked curiously, keeping his voice low in case anyone overheard. 

“You could say I’m old-fashioned, dinner and a movie.” She said. “This isn’t the place I’d go to dinner before the movie either, though” She added with a grin. “What about you?” 

Hyunjae shrugged. “I have no preference, whatever we’d be up to at that time, I guess” he replied with a small smile. 

“Really? You don’t think about those things? I’m sure fans have asked you that so many times” Juhyun eyed him before taking a look through the menu. 

“Your question is very open, isn’t it? Fans give me choices, you give me every option” He said. 

“Because dates can take the form of anything,” She said with a slight nod. “Whatever you two decide to do can be the date.” 

Hyunjae smiled. “Even just sitting at home, eating chicken while watching a movie?” He asked, trying to lighten the mood even more. 

Juhyun laughed. “Yeah, even if you two just plan on sitting at home, watching a movie while eating chicken” she said. “I’d actually prefer just doing that, to be honest, instead of staying in a place like this, but it’s nice to be fancy once in a while” She looked up at the decorations, at the gold trinkets dangling from the ceiling and the chandelier. 

“Why don’t we do that next week?” He suggested, and sat back, a little surprised with what he just said. “We can suggest that to the company and they can probably say yes” he added. 

She was just as surprised as he was. “Sure? Where do you suggest we stay in and eat chicken?” 

“I don’t know, maybe our dorm-” Hyunjae suggested, but suddenly backing away from that idea from the surprised look on her face. “No, wait, your place?” 

She paused looking through the menu for a moment to think. “I think it’s a bad idea to do that, for the two of us, I mean. We’ll take that option out” she replied with finality, and the two of them went back to looking at the menu. 

Hyunjae spotted Junyeol’s figure by the corner of the shop next door. He was already taking several photos of them. He had to do something to make this quick. He wanted them to be as convincing as possible. “Juhyun?” he suddenly said. 

“Yes?” She looked up, and without warning, he leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. She froze at this sudden gesture, but she knew that Junyeol was hastily taking more pictures while Hyunjae’s face was near hers. 

He pulled away and sat back, clearing his throat as if nothing happened, but deep inside he wanted to hide his face from his sudden boldness. Juhyun forced a smile and raised her hand to call the waiter over. “Do know what you uh, want?” she asked, still very flustered. 

“Hmm? Yes” He replied, looking up when the waiter was ready to take their orders. Once the waiter walked off, he sighed. “I had to give Junyeol a lot more to take pictures of, by the way” he muttered. 

Juhyun figured out what he meant. “Oh, okay. I was confused at first but yeah, good thinking,” she chuckled. She suddenly took her phone out, remembering what else she had to do. “Speaking of which, I’ll need to take photos of our dates,” she said. “What about you?” 

“Yeah, me too” Hyunjae whipped his phone out as well, and they took each other’s pictures. They looked closely at the photos they had, making sure that every minute detail was enough to make fans investigate and suspect something. As he was looking through the details, he couldn’t help but feel bad at the same time. They would be betraying the trust of their fans, pretty much a lot of people who weren’t in on the secret. But it was something he had to do. 

“We should take a selca when we’re done too, what do you think? I won’t post it...not yet I mean, I think the company will look through the pictures we take and tell us what to put up...or tell me to put up” She muttered, putting her phone away again. 

He shrugged. “Maybe, but they did say you just have to post them, maybe you should do it” he suggested. 

“Later I will” She nodded. Juhyun spotted the waiter with the tray of food and drinks heading in their direction, and quickly grabbed Hyunjae’s hand, holding it. He caught on with what she did and laced their fingers together. 

It was strangely very comfortable, like they were used to it even if they never did it until the previous week. They smiled at each other, glancing at the waiter who put their food and drinks down and walking off afterwards, probably having seen their slight display of affection. “Wow, this looks really good” she whipped out her phone again and took a picture. 

Hyunjae looked over his own plate of food. “It really does” he said, not noticing that she was taking a photo of him. He looked up and saw Juhyun take another picture of him. “Hey! Did I look good?” he laughed, trying to peek at her phone. “Delete it if I don’t look good” 

“I don’t think so,” Juhyun teased and laughed, showing him a little of the photo. “To be fair, you looked good, surprised, but good” she said. 

“Are you sure? Are you really sure?” He teased as well. 

“I’m sure!” She said with a laugh, placing the table napkin over her lap. “Let’s eat this before it gets cold” 

“Before that,” He held up his glass of wine. “Cheers” he said, and they clinked glasses. 

“Cheers” Juhyun smiled and took a sip, chuckling at Hyunjae’s face when he drank. “Not used to wine?” 

“I’ve drank wine before, but it really tastes like this, doesn’t it?” he said. 

“Yeah” she laughed. 

~ 

“I looked up your musical,” he suddenly said in the middle of their dinner. “You’ll be playing a courtesan, right?” he said. 

Juhyun nodded. “Yeah, someone who always lifts up her skirt and shows her legs” she laughed. “I didn’t think I’d be part of musicals at all, but clearly I was in two, now three.” 

“You’ve been in more, I remember watching you on your second run with Haknyeon, you were really good, at least I think so” He smiled while eating. 

She smiled as well. “Thank you, I appreciate that. Technically just the two, that had a few runs so it seems like more” she pointed out with a laugh, and he laughed as well. “Oh yeah! as I came from the press call, here,” she paused eating to open her bag and took out a small envelope that had the tickets inside. “For you, tickets to a few shows so you can go if you have time. It starts next week.” 

Hyunjae took the envelope and looked at the tickets. “Thanks, and it’s a good thing too. I’ll be completely free for a while after our fancon this weekend, so I can go to all of these dates” He said. 

“If you want to attend more shows, let me know, even if it isn’t on the day we have to meet, I thought I’d make it easier on you” she chuckled. 

He looked at her curiously. “Easier on me?” 

“Well, it’s been a while since I dated” She replied quietly. 

“A while? How long is it, if I can ask?” he said. 

“Four, five years?” She recalled. “Yeah, that long” she nodded. “It hasn’t been that long for you, I bet” she said. 

“Actually it’s been that long too maybe more, I put all my focus on training and debuting that dating wasn’t a priority anymore,” He admitted. “I guess it’s not a priority for you either, huh?” 

 

She said. “Yeah, you could put it that way, but it was more of me trying to recover from that last relationship.” 

“That last relationship ended badly?” he asked. 

“Not badly, but it was painful. We loved each other very much, but he wasn’t,” she tried to figure out a way to explain to him properly. “He well… he just thought his career needed his undivided attention. It’s understandable, since he’s so famous overseas now, but I was still hurt” She looked up at him. 

Hyunjae nodded in understanding. “That was how I ended things with the girl I dated too,” he said. “I understand how she must feel now.” 

Juhyun sat up and smiled, trying to lighten up the mood again. “It seems like we really have a lot in common, even if it was in different points of view” she said. “This spaghetti is good, isn’t it? The meatballs are very moist..” she focused on her food. 

“Slowly, we still have dessert” Hyunjae pointed out with a laugh, turning his attention back to his own food. 

“Doesn’t mean we can’t have that to go” She shrugged, twirling the noodles with her fork. She held it up for him. “Try it, it’s good” she said. He did the same with a forkful of chicken in sauce. 

“You should try mine too” 

~ 

Hyunjae paid the bill and they got up, Juhyun bringing the paper bag that had their desserts. He held her hand and led her out of the restaurant. “So, I’ll give you the tickets for the fancon tomorrow” he said. “I can go to your company building and give them to you there.” 

She nodded. “That’s a deal” she said. 

Just then, a tall figure in a cap and a long coat approached them. “Juhyun, what are you doing out here in this time of night?” then the figure lifted his cap up and she immediately knew who he was. Jinyoung, one of Shinwoo’s bandmates. 

“Hi!” She greeted him with a slight hug and pulled away. “I was uh, just coming from a date, this is Jaehyun-I mean, Hyunjae” she admitted. 

Jinyoung looked up at Hyunjae and smiled. “You look familiar. You’re from The Boyz, aren’t you?” he asked. Hyunjae bowed and nodded. 

“Jaehyun’s my real name, but she just prefers calling me Hyunjae” He replied, holding Juhyun’s hand again. 

“Oh, I got it,” Jinyoung winked at her. “Oh right, now I know why, you were the one who helped her when she got hit by the ball” he glanced at him again. 

“Yeah, and now we’re actually dating-Have been for a while, I mean, it still feels like we’ve only started” He said, trying to sound as confident as he can. 

Jinyoung nodded. “Oh, that makes a lot of sense now. You two were going to go meet somewhere then she got hit by the ball,” he gave her a look this time. “Yah, why didn’t you tell me about this? We always tell each other everything” he said. 

Juhyun shook her head. “I’ll tell you everything later, just not out here?” she said. 

“You better, I thought we were best friends” He teased. “It was nice meeting both of you” he nodded at Hyunjae’s direction, and the younger boy bowed back before he walked off. 

Hyunjae and Juhyun breathed sighs of relief. “That was close… but are we even allowed to explain this to people we know outside our groups?” He asked, tugging on her hand. 

“I don’t know… If I did, I might have to put him under oath of secrecy” Juhyun tried to joke. She looked back at him. “It’s been a good dinner. Thank you for paying” She shrugged, smiling. 

He smiled back. “Yeah it has. We should probably go home now” he said. 

“Yeah, we should. Comeback showcase is tomorrow, oh wait,” Juhyun took her phone out again. “A selca” she said. 

“Yeah, right,” He took his phone out as well. He pulled her close and held up his own phone first, letting go of her hand to wrap an arm around her waist. Juhyun did the same, resting her head on his shoulder as the two of them posed for the selca. Hyunjae took her phone next and this time, he tilted his head and puckered his lips at her, Juhyun laughing just when he took the picture. 

They pulled away. “Now if that doesn’t seem convincing, I don’t know what is” Juhyun laughed, and they waved at each other before parting ways. 

~ 

“So, how did the first date go yesterday?” Hyunae asked Juhyun the next day during rehearsals for the showcase. There were individual banners placed all around the venue, with the group picture at the main entrance of the hall. Crowds of fans were already falling in line, and they could hear them cheering and talking from the waiting room. 

“First date?! Did I hear you correctly?” Subin suddenly perked up upon hearing the question. “You went on a date?!” she asked, and they nodded. “Well?! Who is he?! What’s his name! What group’s he from!” excitement evident in her tone. 

Oh right, you don’t know, Juhyun thought. Hyunae eyed the older girl and nudged her. “I went on a pretend date, there’s something up with the government and they got me into this fake relationship to steer the attention away..” she explained, trying to be as vague as possible. 

Subin frowned a little. “Well that’s a bummer. Yuhee doesn’t want to date anyone and now you’re in a pretend-relationship,” she said. “But hey, whoever he is, you two might develop feelings for each other down the line” She smiled again. 

“It’s a The Boyz member, Subin” Jiwon suddenly said, and Juhyun playfully slapped her arm. “She’s in a pretend-relationship with a The Boyz member.” 

Subin’s eyes widened and she perked up even more. “Oh my god, it’s Hyunjae, isn’t it?” she guessed, making all of them nearly spit out whatever they were drinking. 

“...How did you immediately come to that conclusion?” Yuhee asked, surprised at her answer. 

“I don’t know, when it’s unnie and The Boyz, I immediately think of Hyunjae,” Subin shrugged, but she looked smug. “So, it’s him isn’t it?” she asked, and Juhyun nodded. “He’s really handsome, though, and his skin is so nice.” 

“His skin really is nice, especially up close,” Juhyun nodded. It was one of the things she vividly remembered during their dinner “date.” “He’s got a little mole or freckle on his nose too” she recalled, and Subin swooned. 

Hyunae and Jiwon stared at her. “You must have looked way up close to see that, or that mole or freckle is very visible” Jiwon said, a brow raised in suspicion. 

“Unless…” and Hyunae gasped, making the rest of them react the same. “You two kissed?!” They asked altogether. 

Juhyun gave her members a look. “We did not kiss! Well he kissed me on the cheek, but not on the lips!” She replied. “Why are all of you reacting like that? It’s not like we really went on a date!”

The girls continued to tease her by pretending to be surprised. The stylists entered the waiting room, pulling in clothing racks that had their stage outfits. Another staff member also brought in their personalized microphones and in-ear pieces. “When did they say the news was going to break out?” Yuhee asked Juhyun quietly as their outfits were distributed. 

“I don’t know, any day now, I guess” She replied. 

“Please be strong, Juhyun,” said the stylist all of a sudden. “We also know what’s going on, which is why we’re also going to help in any way we can” she assured her. The makeup artists and the hair stylists also nodded to let her know. 

Juhyun raised a brow. “Did the CEO tell literally everyone in the company?” she asked, going to a cubicle to change into her outfit. 

“Pretty much” said the guy who was handling their microphones and in-ear pieces. “But don’t worry, we’re not going to say anything. It’s just saddening to know that things have to resort to this.” 

“No doubt everyone in Hyunjae’s company knows about it too,” Hyunae said. “On the bright side, it’s good to know they’re doing okay. It’s what happens when the news gets out that will be worrying.” 

“She might get hit with a ball again, probably,” Yuhee said when she came back from changing her clothes. “Or have to disable her comments section on her Instagram.” 

“I posted a photo last night” Juhyun said while she was changing. The girls whipped out their phones to look. 

“Wow, how fancy,” Subin teased, tapping the like button. The rest of the entourage did the same on their phones as well. “Hyunjae took you here?” She looked impressed. 

“No, of course not. The company made a reservation,” Juhyun replied, folding her clothes as she came back, placing them in her bag. “I should make a suggestion next time about where to go, that looked too fancy for my liking. Hyunjae didn’t mind though, but we were underdressed.” 

“It’s cute though, I wish Shinwoo took me to that” Jiwon frowned a little. “So...Hyunjae isn’t going to post anything from last night?” 

Juhyun shrugged and sat down in front of the makeup chair. 

~ 

Meanwhile, Hyunjae was with the rest of the members in the practice room, focused on their upcoming fancon. They were practicing every song they were going to perform, their songs echoing throughout the room. Once they did the ending pose of their last song, they scattered to drink water. 

“How did the date go yesterday?” Hyunjoon asked him. “You came home late so I never got to ask.” 

“Oh yeah! How did the date go?” Sangyeon looked amused upon suddenly remembering. 

He gave them all a look. “It wasn’t a real date, and it went well,” He drank the remainder of the water in his cup and picked up his jacket, taking the phone out of his pocket. He tapped the gallery and he flinched in surprise as it was met by cheers and Changmin’s high-pitched scream. 

“WOW” They exclaimed, and it was only then that Hyunjae realized what he showed them. Their selca after the date. “WOW!” 

“The chemistry though!” Kevin grinned upon seeing the photo, and Hyunjae turned pink. “Look at you!” 

“If I didn’t know this was an agreement, I’d say it looks like a real photo!” Jacob commented, looking very amused. 

“For a moment there, Hyunjae hyung looked so cool” Changmin teased. “Did you really kiss?!” he gaped at the photo, after Haknyeon grabbed his phone to scroll through the rest of the pictures. 

“No! We didn’t kiss! She laughed, didn’t she?” Hyunjae pointed out. If he didn’t know, he was already so red from embarrassment. “There was a kiss, but there was no kiss that you’re all thinking of!” 

They burst into fits of laughter, Hyunjae taking his phone back to put it away again, only for it to ring and the laughter died down. He looked at who was calling, it was Junyeol. “Hello?” He answered. 

“Hyunjae, just to let you know, I sent the photos to Dispatch already. Prepare for the news to break tomorrow morning at the soonest. I just called Juhyun earlier too to let her know” Junyeol said. 

His expression fell slightly and a pang of anxiety came over him. “Okay, I’ll be prepared. Bye” and he put his phone away. 

 

“Who was that?” Sunwoo asked. 

Hyunjae looked at all of them. “The photographer working with us on this stunt. He just sent in the photos. The news will break tomorrow.” 

The members all nodded and gave him encouraging pats on the shoulders. “Is the company prepared?” 

“Yeah, they gave us a copy of the statements they’ll make to confirm the news, and they also gave us a copy of the personal statements we’ll make just in case” He explained. He turned to Sangyeon. “I know this is going to affect our fancon this weekend.” 

Sangyeon waved a hand dismissively. He understood as he knew what was really going on. Everyone except Chanhee knew what was really up. “Don’t think about how it’s going to affect our fancon. Just think about how well you’ll perform, okay? Don’t stress yourself out, it’ll be fine” he encouraged him. 

“It still couldn’t have come at a worse time” Hyunjae remarked. 

“It’s okay, didn’t they say that everyone’s going to be very understanding once that news breaks? You did help Juhyun sunbae when she got hit” Sunwoo tried to make him feel better. 

It was then he remembered. “Yeosin’s comeback showcase is today. It’s probably starting any minute now” He said quietly. 

“Really?” Chanhee perked up. “We should watch that. We need a little break, don’t we?” he said to them. 

“I need to go though. I’ve got a schedule later,” Younghoon said, picking his jacket up. “I’ll see you guys at home” and he waved at them before leaving the room. 

The rest of them crowded around the tablet Kevin brought and went onto the stream. “We’ll be on break after the fancon, who’s going away on a trip?” Sangyeon asked. 

Kevin, Jacob, Sunwoo, Changmin, Juyeon, Haknyeon, and Eric raised their hands. “I’m goin’ back to Canada” Kevin announced excitedly. 

“I’m going to a lot of places actually. I’ll be going to LA and then Hawaii” Juyeon said. 

“You go to Hawaii” Haknyeon joked, making them laugh. “I’m going to Hong Kong” 

“We’re all going to Okinawa” Changmin gestured to the rest of them that raised their hands. “We’ll be back in time for Hyunjoon and Sunwoo’s graduation” he added. 

“No one else is going anywhere?” Sangyeon asked. 

“Just home” Hyunjae replied. He suddenly took out his phone. “Oh yeah, if anyone wants to come with me to Juhyun’s musical, she gave me tickets to the shows next week?” 

Just then, some music played and they whipped around to watch. “Wow” Changmin clapped, seeing the comeback performance that was on. He looked over at the older boy. “Should we call her sister-in-law or something?” 

“No, of course not” Hyunjae shook his head. “Yah, we’re not really dating, this is fake, remember?” He laughed, looking back at the performance. Juhyun suddenly appeared on the screen, and the members began to glance over at him. “Why are you all looking at me?!” 

“On second thought, we should call her sister-in-law now” Sunwoo grinned. “Our sister-in-law Juhyun” He beamed. 

“But really, your clothes could use an upgrade next time you go on a date,” Kevin said. “Dress up like you two are dating, you know?” 

“Hey, the clothes I have are good already” Hyunjae argued. 

“Maybe, but don’t wear those baggy shirts on the dates, hyung,” Hyunjoon commented. “Let us know whenever you’re leaving to see each other.” 

“The hair really makes her look pale,” Jacob muttered, seeing Juhyun appear on the screen again. “I’m glad her nose got better” the members hummed in agreement upon seeing her face. 

“It was bleeding when I last saw her” Sangyeon recalled with a nod. 

“A few weeks ago, you had a little accident, that worried the fans so much,” The host suddenly said. “But it’s so good to see you’re okay.” 

Juhyun smiled, seeing the reactions of the crowd in front of them. “Yeah, I’m okay! I’ve been okay for a while! I was worried too, to be honest,” She began. “Because I didn’t want to make our Sirens wait any longer since they’ve been waiting for us for a long time and this is our first comeback in a year and a half, even if they understood why it might, I didn’t want to keep them waiting any longer” she explained. 

“Fortunately nothing serious happened to Juhyun, which is why we’re here in front of you all today!” Jiwon cheered, the fans happily waving their lightsticks at them.   
“So, without waiting any longer, our music video for Yeosin’s comeback song ‘None of Your Business’ premieres….now!” the host announced. 

The stream soon changed when the music video began to play. Hyunjae watched and nodded along to the song. Changmin was dancing in his seat, as were Kevin and Hyunjoon. “Wow” he muttered, in awe of the charisma his fake-girlfriend was exuding in the video. 

~ 

Everyone cheered as the showcase ended, and the girls went back to the dressing room. Juhyun pulled off her hairties as she went inside and sat down, hurriedly taking off her shoes; white booties with the undersides made out of metal. “Thank goodness we’re only wearing these for our first week of promotions, my ankles feel like they’re going to give in if I stood any longer” she let out an exhausted sigh, passing the shoes to the stylists and taking out her flip flops. 

“Good job girls, you’ve all worked so hard” Chunhee appeared in the doorway, beaming with pride. 

They noticed Subin hastily changing from a cubicle at the far corner of the room, clothes flying out from the inside. “Got another date with Seungri?” Hyunae asked. 

“Yeah! We’re going to try and spend as much time together before he leaves for his tour again” She replied, folding her clothes before handing it back to the stylist. 

The rest of them eyed Juhyun, who shook her head. “Be careful” she advised. 

“I am, or at least I’m trying to be. What if it isn’t Dispatch that’s been trying to tail us, though?” she pondered. 

“Then we’ll still use the same cover-up plan we’ve always used. Where are you two meeting?” Yuhee asked. 

“Aori Ramen. We had to stop meeting at Yeolbong” Subin said. 

The rest of the girls glanced at each other. Chunhee got the idea as well. “Who’s turn is it to follow Subin?” he asked. 

“Mine” Juhyun raised her hand. 

“Unnie, maybe it’s best that I do it instead” Yuhee suddenly suggested. “Didn’t you say your feet were hurting?” She looked at the older girl knowingly. 

Hyunae and Jiwon also got what the maknae meant. “Oh yeah! Juhyun, one of the three of us should just do it instead, just to make it easier, you know? Aori Ramen’s nearest to my place” Jiwon remarked. 

She raised a brow. “Are you sure? Hyunjae and I aren’t meeting tonight if that’s what the three of you are thinking. We already met last night.” 

The three members exchanged looks. Chunhee also figured out what they were thinking. Juhyun and Subin looked confused. “Yeah, Juhyun, maybe it’s best that you just head on home, hmm?” he asked. “Whatever you’re probably thinking of getting from a cafe or a convenience store, just let me know.” 

Juhyun raised a brow at them. “Why are you all suddenly acting suspicious? Is there something I shouldn’t know about?” she asked. 

“Well…” Hyunae looked over at their entourage, who were looking at their phones. “I think you’d have to prepare yourself a lot sooner than expected” she said. 

“Prepare myself? It’s not like there’s an article out already?” Juhyun said. 

“Actually, it just came out a few minutes ago…” Jiwon looked at her sheepishly, and one of the stylists showed her the article on her phone. Juhyun’s eyes widened at the blaring headline and the pictures. 

Breaking: Yeosin Juhyun and The Boyz Hyunjae are Dating

January 2019, one of the newest couples of the year comes in the form of Yeosin Juhyun and The Boyz Hyunjae. The two of them caused quite a stir during the ISAC games at the beginning of the year due to an accident that occurred when the veteran idol was hit with a soccer ball just before the penalty shootout events. 

But the real surprise came in the form of news about their relationship as it turns out that the two have been dating for a few months. The two idols met through a mutual friend. Both agencies have confirmed their relationship status, saying that they are happily in love and ask fans of both idols and the groups to support them. 

Everyone in the room stared at her as she muttered the rest of the article, even seeing the photos of them that she knew Junyeol took. “Oh… They wrote it so fast.” 

“Yeah, they did… How are you feeling?” Yuhee said. 

Juhyun gave the phone back. She took a deep breath. “I’m not going to lie, I’m surprised. But this is the start of the chaos, I guess.” 

“That’s why you should let one of the three of us tail Subin instead, Juhyun. Just go home and relax, okay?” Jiwon assured her. “We’ll all be fine, and we’ll all be okay.” 

Juhyun nodded, and quietly changed back into her clothes. 

~ 

Hyunjae was in bed when he found out the news. He stared at the headline and at the pictures that came with it. “So it begins” he muttered, putting his phone away. Even if he was prepared, even if everyone was prepared, he was still nervous about how people were going to take this news. 

He reached for the piece of paper on his bedside table that had his personal statement that he could make about the news. That was more important now than ever, but it couldn’t have come at a worse time. He grabbed a pen and began to edit the paragraph.


	4. Chapter 4

The announcement of their dating news shocked a lot of people, and the respective accounts of both groups went quiet, leading fans to think that something might be posted on the fancafes soon. Their relationship soon made it to a news broadcast, and Juhyun’s personal social media accounts were being bombarded not with well-wishes from her accident but a mixture of congratulatory messages from her fans and hate comments from others. She didn’t even bother looking up articles about their relationship on Pann and Naver, she could already imagine what people would say. 

 

“Yikes, a cougar”

 

“Hyunjae could’ve picked anyone but her”

 

“She’s such a cougar, do you know how much older she is?”

 

“Juhyun must be picking on the rookies now since no senior idol could ever look at her” 

 

“Her spiraling career is now over” 

 

“There goes Hyunjae’s career. The slut just had to go after him” 

 

Juhyun looked at the piece of paper containing the personal statement she could make for everyone in her living room the next morning. Chunhee chose to pick her up so they could all go to the tv station as one group. They even had a fansign afterwards. Surprisingly, she wasn’t as overwhelmed as she thought she would be, but she was very worried about Hyunjae. She wrote down her version of the statement she was going to make on another piece of paper and carefully took a picture. She was going to put that up on the fancafe and on her accounts later. 

 

The door opened and she got up to see Chunhee enter, with an iced coffee for her. “Good morning, how are we feeling? You two were trending last night” he said, handing her the drink. 

 

“Okay, I guess. I’m just more worried about what this could do to Hyunjae,” She replied while sipping. “Surprisingly, I’m not as anxious as I thought I would be, and honestly, I’m kind of dreading entering the tv station.” 

 

Her manager nodded in understanding. “I figured, but be strong, hmm? Put on a smile or something, act like you’re super happy, you know? There will be some skeptics, but let’s try and be as believable as possible” He encouraged her. 

 

Juhyun picked up her bag and her pair of slippers. “I hope you’re right, it’s easier said than done, you know” She pointed out, following him out of her apartment.

 

As they arrived at the parking lot, Jiwon, Yuhee, Hyunae, and Subin were already inside, looking very sleepy but already made up. “Good morning to our leader dearest” they greeted her as she got in, yawning and blinking the tears that came with it away. 

 

“Good morning” Juhyun replied and kept sipping her coffee. Chunhee started driving them away from the building.  

 

“How are we dealing with the responses?” Jiwon asked. 

 

“I refuse to look at the responses to that news, I’ve had enough of my phone buzzing from Instagram earlier” Juhyun shook her head. 

 

The four girls exchanged looks. “Well, if you weren’t seeing the responses, you’d be surprised to know that most of these are positive,” Hyunae said. “We looked up the news on Naver and, apart from some very insulting comments, majority of the responses were good,” she took her phone out and tapped furiously, looking for one article. “See, here, one said ‘aww, they look so cute together’ and here’s another one, ‘I wish them nothing but the best’ “ she read out. 

 

“I get it, thank you,” Juhyun dismissed. “I’m not as overwhelmed as I thought I’d be, but what happens when we arrive at the tv station is something I’m dreading right now” she said. 

 

“Try acting happy. The Boyz isn’t promoting this time anyway, or anymore at least, so things aren’t as tense” Jiwon advised. 

 

“That’s true, I’ll have to practice my smile” The rapper laughed, flashing a big smile then frowning afterwards. 

 

“Unnie” Yuhee and Subin gave her looks. 

 

She stared at them. “Alright, alright, I’ll make it less fake” she said. 

 

“You better! What’s the use of all that acting if you can’t fake being happy” Jiwon said with a laugh. “It’s not like you and Hyunjae hate each other anyway, you two get along and everything.” 

 

“That’s true, see?” Juhyun showed them their selca on her phone. The girls all squealed, Subin squealing particularly louder that Yuhee had to cover her ears. 

 

“Oh my god, you two are so cute!” Hyunae grinned. “This was the other night?! Wow, you two are so bold! I can’t even do that with Kangho” she said, very amused. 

 

Jiwon and Subin gave approving looks, while Yuhee gave her a thumbs up. “After I make my statement, I guess I can post that one, but I’ll have to ask Hyunjae first” Juhyun said, putting her phone away and putting on her earphones. 

 

They arrived at the tv station, where crowds of fans holding up their group signs were waiting. Chunhee parked the van next to the car of their entourage, who were already standing outside and waiting for them, holding several train cases and luggage containing their clothes and shoes. Photographers were lined up on the way inside the back entrance. “Showtime” Jiwon said, and Juhyun took a deep breath, opening the door and getting out, clutching her drink and her bag. 

 

She was welcomed to the near-deafening sounds of cheers coming from the crowd, calling her name, then Jiwon’s, then Hyunae, Yuhee, and lastly, Subin. Their hair colors made them stand out even more as the other junior idols only had shades of black and brown, some of them were blonde, but not as blonde as Juhyun. “Let me get your bags” Chunhee said, taking them as the five girls lined up in front of the press to take photos. 

 

“Juhyun-Hyunjae congratulations!!” A group of fans screamed, and Juhyun smiled wider with every click of the photographers’ cameras. “Juhyun-Hyunjae be happy!!” they cheered again, and Juhyun eyed them, giving them a thumbs up. 

 

“What did we tell you? The fans are supportive” Hyunae nudged the older girl as they went straight to the entrance, approaching the two MCs.for an opening interview.

 

~ 

 

Meanwhile, Hyunjae sat in front of the tv in the practice room. They were taking a break from practicing for their fancon, and everyone else scattered to sit down, take a small nap, and practice on their own. Before he left for practice, he posted his personal statement in both the fancafe and on twitter. He was pleasantly surprised at the amount of support he got, but he also received some negative responses from others. This was what Juhyun told him about, he thought, while he watched her answer questions and promote their comeback on tv. 

 

He felt someone pat his back. It was Sangyeon, and behind him was Hyunjoon. The two of them sat on either side of him. “How are you feeling?” Their leader asked. 

 

“Okay, I guess. But I don’t know how I feel exactly” Hyunjae shrugged, still staring at the tv. 

 

Sangyeon patted his back again. “A lot of people are surprisingly taking it well, but a lot of people aren’t taking it well too” he realized. “Good thing we’re not promoting anything for a while” he sighed. 

 

“Yeah, but I’m now thinking about what’s going to happen since everything’s out in the open,” Hyunjae muttered. He shook his head. “What am I saying? We’re pretend-dating” he shook the thought away. 

 

Hyunjoon and Sangyeon exchanged looks and grinned. “Getting into the boyfriend role, huh hyung?” the younger boy teased. “Isn’t this what they call method acting?” he looked over at their leader.

 

Sangyeon laughed. “Yeah! Hyunjae’s a method actor after all” he teased as well. “Have you two been messaging each other then?” he asked. 

 

He nodded. “We have, both text and kakaotalk. We’re going to match outfits next week. The more I think about it, people will be expecting that, especially when I come watch her musical.” 

 

“Ooh, musical date, huh?” The two members teased, and Hyunjae felt his face heat up. 

 

“Hyunjae, it’s best if you be the one to take her home. It’s the way of a gentleman” Sangyeon advised him. 

 

He gave the older boy a look. “Hyung, do you think I have a driver’s license? She’s the one with the license, not me. If anything, she’ll end up being the one taking me home” he said. 

 

Sangyeon and Hyunjoon laughed. “You have a point, Jaehyun. Hold on, does the other Jaehyun drive?” the leader said. 

 

Hyunjae shook his head. “Johnny hyung does, but not Jaehyun.” 

 

“You two are so similar it gets confusing, and both of you don’t even look alike,” Hyunjoon shook his head. “Good thing I’ve got a 00-line outing after graduation at least until Jeno and the others have to leave for Japan too and before Eric leaves for LA.” 

 

“Isn’t Donghyuck injured?” Sangyeon asked. 

 

“Yeah, so he won’t be able to go. We’re just going to spend the whole day playing,” Hyunjoon explained. “But YangYang’s back and he’s fun!” he grinned. 

 

It made Sangyeon think of his own plans. “Maybe I could talk to Kun and Ten, ask if we could all hang out since Doyoung’s so busy, ah I’m getting envious of you guys. Even Haknyeon’s going to Hong Kong with Lucas and Hendery’s inviting them to go to Macau together” he frowned a little. 

 

“Haknyeon’s going with Lucas to Hong Kong?” Hyunjae raised a brow. 

 

“Yeah, he just told me,” Sangyeon nodded. “Wah, now I’m getting more envious” he chuckled. 

 

“At least you’ll be with family” Hyunjae pointed out. He suddenly sat up when he saw a flash of blonde, pink, and light blue on the screen. Yeosin was already performing one of their other tracks. When Juhyun went on the screen, he was in awe and so were Sangyeon and Hyunjoon. “I bet the management would want me to drop by at her fansign or something” he muttered. 

 

“I think that would just be pushing it, like you’re rubbing it in everyone’s faces” Hyunjoon commented, while Sangyeon nodded in agreement. “Sweet though, but too much.” 

 

Hyunjae nodded. “At least I’ll be able to come watch her musical. She said to let her know if I wanted to watch more shows. I know what I’ll be doing after the fancon.”

 

“Hmm, did you invite her to the fancon?” Sangyeon asked curiously. 

 

“I did. She just said she’ll try and find time for either one of the days. I think it’s because NCT’s concert is also this weekend, so she’s trying to find time to attend both” Hyunjae explained. 

 

“Now I feel moved” Sangyeon beamed. 

 

~ 

 

Juhyun stepped out of the waiting room, having already finished recording the ending and changed back into her clothes before. She was on her way to the restroom when she saw a crowd of people, all of them seemingly idols, in front of her. They parted upon seeing her and bowed a few times, Juhyun bowing back to them in acknowledgment. 

 

She arrived at a restroom and entered a cubicle. “Didn’t you hear the news the other day? Juhyun sunbae is dating a rookie” she suddenly heard someone say from another cubicle, having come out after flushing the toilet. 

 

“Really?” another voice, whom Juhyun figured was the person’s friend or colleague. 

 

“Yeah, apparently they’ve been dating for months now. No wonder he was the one who went up to her when she got hit by that ball” the first voice snickered. 

 

“That must have hurt” the second voice said, chuckling as well. “That’s karma’s attempt at breaking them up, I suppose?”

 

“She must have been envious of her groupmates that she lowered her standards, she’s the ugliest from all of them” the first voice said. “That’s what she gets for dating rookies.” 

 

“No, I think he’s just dating her because he feels bad no one would look at her. She shouldn’t have turned down YG’s offer of having her do plastic surgery” the second voice pointed out and both of them laughed. 

 

Juhyun took a deep breath. It was to be expected. She suddenly didn’t feel like going anymore. She flushed the toilet and stepped out, only for the two girls to look at her in horror. “Thank you for pointing out my flaws” she said to them with a small smile while washing her hands. 

 

“J-J-Juhyun sunbae” the two girls bowed low bows at her. 

 

Juhyun bowed back and stepped out, shaking her head at what she just heard. The comments certainly stung, but it was to be expected after the news came out. Soon to be eight years in the industry, she knew there were idols who were not as nice behind the scenes as they made themselves out to be. She knew there were idols that were mean to everyone, including their fans, and yet maintained an angelic appearance on camera. Those two girls seemed to be no exception. She didn’t even know who they were. 

 

She closed the door behind her when she came back, the rest of them already packed up. “Clearly, news travels fast” she said, picking up her bag. 

 

“What do you mean?” Yuhee asked. 

 

She explained to them what she heard in the restroom. The girls and Chunhee all frowned and their stylists were shaking their heads in disgust. “I didn’t know who they were, so I just let it slide” she shrugged. 

 

“Good on you, unnie. If I were in your shoes, I would’ve tried to make a petty comment” Subin said. 

 

“That’s precious, coming from a group of unknowns” Jiwon remarked sharply, but Hyunae nudged her. “What? It’s true! They have yet to have as many accomplishments as Juhyun over here. What right do they have to say stuff like that even if this is fake?” 

 

“First fansign!” Chunhee announced, in an effort to lighten the mood again, leading the way out of the room, and they followed him. 

 

Juhyun breathed a sigh of relief. One schedule down, another one left to go. She hoped it would continue to be as smooth as she’d want it to be. They saw the crowds of fans taking photos and videos of them again, and all of a sudden, Yuhee yelled. 

 

“Unnie!” 

 

Juhyun felt her hair and the sleeve of her jacket get covered in something wet and very hot. Some of it was trickling down the side of her face and it smelled like coffee. It was coffee. The cheers and shouts abruptly stopped. She looked around, scanning the area for who could have done it. Everyone was so busy taking photos and videos. She sighed. The management probably planted someone to throw it at her without her knowing, she thought, while one of their stylists handed her a packet of wet tissues to wipe her face. 

 

Chunhee and the girls were looking at her, all of them were completely shocked. “What? Lets go” she said, wiping her face as she got on the van. “Isn’t this too much? Oppa?” She eyed their manager. “I know it was agreed that we’d supposedly get caught dating, but did you guys have to do this too?” she asked. “I don’t need a pity party thrown with this” she said, furiously wiping over the side of her face, her makeup coming off as well. 

 

“Actually Juhyun, that wasn’t any of our doing,” Chunhee said, driving them away. “I’m just as shocked as you are. We can cancel the fansign-” 

 

“NO” Juhyun said firmly. “We’re not cancelling anything. I don’t want it to get cancelled just because someone thought it was a good idea to throw hot coffee on me. They’ve waited long enough for us to come back, I’m not going to let them down last minute.” 

 

Chunhee sighed, so did her groupmates. “Alright” he said quietly. 

 

“Have we returned to ten years ago or something? Why is this happening again?” Jiwon said indignantly, crossing her arms in annoyance. 

 

“It must have been an anti, you know how they are. They got desperate,” Hyunae added. “Or a scorned fan that doesn’t like the fact that you’re dating Hyunjae, or that Hyunjae’s dating you. Aish” she frowned. 

 

Juhyun shook her head. “All I want now is for today to end. I have to tell Hyunjae I might not make it to their fancon. I have to tell Taeil I can’t make it to theirs either” she cringed. 

 

“No” Yuhee, Jiwon, and Hyunae said in unison. 

 

“Unnie, you’re going regardless. You have to place yourself within Hyunjae’s orbit, just as he’s going to your musical. I still hate you by the way for giving him all the tickets” Yuhee pouted at the older girl. 

 

~ 

 

Chanhee entered the practice room after getting ice cream. He got the last choreography wrong and was chosen to buy ice creams for everyone. As he entered however, he was looking at his phone and he looked shocked. “What? What is it?” Sangyeon asked with a brow raised, as they went up to him to distribute the popsicles among themselves. 

 

“Just an hour ago, someone threw hot coffee at Juhyun sunbae” he looked at Hyunjae then held up his phone to show them the video. 

 

“Someone’s peanut butter and jealous~” Kevin commented, looking at the video in disbelief. 

 

Hyunjae looked just as shocked, but he paused to think. “Was this planned? Maybe I should ask the management” he took out his phone and saw a message. 

 

_ Juhyun: In case you haven’t seen, someone really threw coffee at me. Asked my manager, he said no one planted anyone to do it.  _

 

“Oh” He put his phone away, and the shock returned. “It wasn’t planned. Someone really did it.” 

 

Jacob frowned. “Isn’t that too much? That’s not right.” 

 

“On the bright side, it means sweeter dates, and sweeter dates mean it’s more convincing” Changmin was quick to point out. “Maybe she can post your selcas on her Instagram” he shrugged. 

 

“Maybe,” Hyunjae took his phone out again to send her a message. 

 

_ Hyunjae: I heard what happened to you. I’m sorry. How about posting our selca on your sns?  _

 

He stared at his screen, not bothering to get his ice cream for now, hoping for a reply from her. Hyunjae sat down and scrolled back up to see their previous messages to each other in between their meetings. He felt bad that Juhyun had to take this much, even more than he did in this situation. Hyunjae made a mental note to somewhat make things easier, or as Changmin had pointed out, sweeter, to further prove to everyone that they were a believable couple. 

 

His phone buzzed, and as he had hoped, it was a message from Juhyun. 

 

_ Juhyun: Later. I’m about to go on a fansign, sticky pigtails and all. Posting it after my statement.  _

 

Hyunjae smiled. Juhyun sounded okay. “Did she text you back?” Hyunjoon asked him. 

 

“She did,” he replied. “She sounded okay, but I hope she really is.” He looked up at the rest of them. “Do you think it’s time for me to post a photo?” 

 

“Just the ones that don’t have her in it yet, it’ll soften the blow you already gave” Sangyeon advised. It was times like these that Hyunjae was so glad to have Sangyeon around when it came to a crisis. He knew what was really going on, and he did his best to help. 

 

Practice soon ended, and they proceeded to the parking lot, only for him to get pulled out of the crowd by the man and the woman. “Hyunjae, we need to speak to you” they said. 

 

“We’ll see you at home” Haknyeon waved at him before they got into the van, their manager giving him a knowing nod before getting in and driving away. 

 

Hyunjae followed the two into the woman’s office. The woman gestured to the chair and he sat down, putting his bag to the side. “Is this about the incident that Juhyun got into today?” he asked. 

 

“Yes, you heard about it?” The man asked curiously. 

 

“I did. Chanhee showed it to me. It’s spread out everywhere” Hyunjae replied. He raised a brow at them. “You really didn’t plant a person to do that, did you?” he asked. 

 

“No, we didn’t” they shook their heads. “And the incident is also now trending on social media and on Naver. Fortunately, we’re prepared in case someone from the public has decided to take some very drastic measures on trying to break you two apart” the man explained. 

 

He had a feeling he knew where this was going. “Does this mean sweeter dates?” he asked, looking at them suspiciously. 

 

“Actually yes, very good Hyunjae,” the woman said with a nod. “In this case, during the musicals, you two will date, in broad daylight” she said. 

 

The male idol gaped at her. “Isn’t that a death wish?” he asked, trying to seem calm. 

 

“Look, we know this is basically disastrous, but it’s the only way to play up your relationship. Also, we’ve checked into her schedules and yours for the coming weeks and, in three weeks’ time, you two will be seen together overseas.” The woman said. 

 

Hyunjae’s jaw dropped even more. “But-but…” 

 

“We know,” The man said. “Dispatch wants more proof, they’ll be trying to fact-check, you know how they are. They’ll even try and look into who your mutual friend is.” 

 

“Jaehyun’s busy, there’s no way they’ll be able to get in touch with him” He said. “So is the rest of NCT, not even EXO or Winner” 

 

“Fortunately, that’s true,” The man then said. “But for now, you two will date publicly and out in the open for everyone to see, to show them how unaffected both of you are. I checked in with Juhyun and she seemed okay. According to Chunhee, she refused to cancel the fansign they’re at right now even if she had hot coffee splashed on her” He explained. 

 

Hyunjae smiled a little at the thought, and it made him think about the message she sent him. Sticky pigtails. “It’s a good thing this hasn’t let her down. But I do have a question, can we meet even before or after the day that we’re supposed to meet?” 

 

The man and the woman exchanged looks, then turned back to him. “Are you planning on seeing her tonight?” She asked. 

 

“Well, I-I just thought it might be a good idea to cheer her up or something. She’s taken a big hit for me so I wanted to make sure if she really was okay” He explained. 

 

The two of them smiled. “That’s very thoughtful, Hyunjae. But don’t you have to focus on your upcoming fancon? It’s in two days” The woman said. 

 

“I just finished practicing, and I have some time left, but I just really wanted to check on her.” Hyunjae insisted. 

 

“Well, I guess it won’t hurt, but I’ll have to be the one to take you to her” The man said a little carefully. “Unfortunately you might have to make it quick too, hmm?” He asked, and Hyunjae nodded. 

 

“Good. We’ll contact Chunhee when the fansign is over. We’ll drop you off later tonight.” 

 

~ 

 

The songs from their album were playing on loop throughout the event, and the five girls were busy talking to the fans while signing their albums. “Unnie! Are you okay? Please don’t mind the person who threw the drink, they’re not worthy of your attention” The fan in front of Juhyun asked once she moved to the seat across from her. 

 

“Yeah, I’m just fine” Juhyun chuckled, signing the page of her picture and looking through the post-it. She laughed at the question until the staff snatched it away. “I’m sorry” she said. “But to answer your question, I’d dedicate the song ‘Carnival’ to him” she said quietly so as the staff didn’t hear. 

 

“Carnival? Wasn’t it, ‘Unavoidable’ ?” Yuhee teased, having heard them. “You can’t avoid him, so you wrote the song” she laughed. 

 

The fan grinned. “Congratulations on you and Hyunjae, please date happily” she said quietly as well, and Juhyun gave her a thumbs up. The next fan sat in front of her, shyly handing her the album. 

 

“I think I’ve seen you somewhere before” Juhyun smiled, in an attempt to make conversation while signing her picture. 

 

“I went to your musical fansign, I really loved your performance as Magenta” He said with a big smile. “You will be in another musical, right?” 

 

“Yeah, I am! Moulin Rouge, please come, I’ll look for you” Juhyun winked, and he beamed. She looked back at Chunhee, who stood by watching them. “Don’t you have a ticket to the opening show for my musical?” she asked. 

 

Chunhee nodded. “Yes I do. Will he be getting one?” he asked, gesturing to the fan. 

 

“Yes,” She said, and the fan gaped at her. She turned back to him. “Please stay a while after this fansign is over. My manager can give you a ticket” 

 

The fan blushed and tried not to squeal in his seat in joy. “Thank you so much” he said, rushing away from the chair, nearly jumping on his way back to his seat, while a new fan sat in front of her. 

 

“Please be happy with Hyunjae,” the fan suddenly said. “And don’t mind the one who threw the coffee at you” She assured the idol. 

 

Juhyun just smiled. She didn’t want to say much. “The good thing is that I get to take most of my makeup off. You’ve already seen me without it” she joked, and quickly signed her page. 

 

~ 

 

She arrived back in her apartment hours later, taking off her pigtails and heading into the shower. After the day she had, she needed to unwind, also as a suggestion from her groupmates. They offered to take turns amongst each other in following Subin for her usual date with Seungri, leaving Juhyun out as they knew what she had to go through. She wasn’t feeling like going to the studio, she could do that another time. 

 

After showering and getting dressed, she went into her kitchen to make herself dinner. Even though she was exhausted, she still felt like cooking. The doorbell suddenly rang and she looked over at the security system to see who it was. It was Hyunjae. 

 

She quickly washed the chicken marinade off her hands, wiping them on her apron as she padded towards the door, opening it slightly. “Hey” she said. 

 

“Hi” He waved, and went inside, Juhyun closing the door behind him. 

 

“What brings you here?” She asked, eyeing him and glancing at the marinating chicken in the kitchen. “And how did you know where I live?” 

 

“I just wanted to drop by and see how you’re doing,” He explained. “What happened to you earlier today wasn’t really nice” he said. 

 

She smiled. “I’m fine, I didn’t think too much of it afterwards, we had a fansign coming up and I still have yet to post the statement in our fancafe” She said. “But I’m glad you’re not getting affected by this. Better me than you” 

 

Hyunjae smiled back. “Still, I just wanted to see how you were doing, like really doing.” 

 

Juhyun patted his shoulder. “I’m not hurt, I’m just tired but I’m also hungry so I’m cooking” she said, hoping it gave him some assurance. 

 

He stared at her, wanting to say something, but held it back. “So, what are you making?” he asked. 

 

She looked over at the bowl. “I’m making my special oven-fried chicken, with roasted vegetables to go with it” she said. 

 

It made his mouth water and he swallowed. “Chicken?” 

 

“Yeah, chicken,” she said. She noticed his reaction. “You could help me cook or something if you have the time. You went through all this trouble to come here on a day that isn’t when we’re meeting.” 

 

Hyunjae nodded. “Yeah, and I’d want to stay to eat, but I promised them I wouldn’t be long here. Maybe next time” he said. He looked at the door, and at the clock. It wasn’t that late, but the man was waiting for him. 

 

Juhyun observed him. “Yeah, maybe next time. It’ll be my turn to drop by.” She said. She went to her laptop that was on the dining table and logged on to the fancafe. The chicken can wait. She took a look at her statement. 

 

“Posting it now?” He suddenly asked, noticing what she was doing. 

 

“Yeah. It’s time to do that” she said, uploading the photo on the fancafe and on her Instagram. “Done” she got back up. “And now I wait, I guess. What about you?” she asked. 

 

“I posted mine this morning, I don’t know if I want to look at the responses anymore” he chuckled. He took his phone out. “Hey, how about another selca?” he suggested. 

 

“Okay, sure” she said, wrapping both arms around his waist while he took their picture. She took him by surprise this time by puckering her lips, as if she was about to kiss his cheek. 

 

Hyunjae didn’t budge and instead smiled his biggest smile as he took another photo. He could hear the cheers and howls coming from his groupmates in his head, and the thought made him laugh. “Soon enough, your Instagram will become a lovestagram” he grinned, wrapping an arm around her waist this time, his head tilted towards hers. 

 

They pulled away laughing. “Hey, send those photos to me, I might as well make one of those my phone wallpaper or something” she said, reaching for her phone while he sent her the photos. “Wow, we don’t look bad! I didn’t think this light would be flattering” she commented, looking at each photo carefully. 

 

He chuckled. “That’s because I used a filter, Juhyun” he said, a little hesitant to keep away the honorifics with her. 

 

“Doesn’t that disrupt your photos though?” She asked curiously. She always thought the filters disrupted her own photos. 

 

He shook his head. “Sometimes it makes pictures look better. You should try it sometime” he said. 

 

“You’ve got a point there” Juhyun said with a nod. She knew Yuhee always liked using filters, do did Jiwon. Hyunae and Subin on the other hand, preferred not to use them. She looked back at the photos, scrolling through each one. “Wow, you make both of us look good” she teased. 

 

Hyunjae just smiled, watching her look through her phone. “It’s your turn to take pictures of us” he said. 

 

Juhyun nodded and went up to him again. “Next time, we should have matching phone cases too” she suggested. She held his hand and he laced their fingers together before taking the photo. “One more” she said, and leaned up to kiss him on the cheek, holding the pose as she took another photo. 

 

He tried his hardest not to look so surprised, and instead tried to look confident. He thought of turning the tables this time, but as he tilted his head to look at her, their lips accidentally touched. She accidentally took a photo of that too. 

 

They pulled away quickly, laughing off the accidental kiss. “You should ask me out first before stealing a kiss you know” she joked, looking through the photos she took so far. 

 

“I don’t need to, we’re already fake-dating, as your fake-boyfriend, I can do that a lot” He played along, laughing as well when he saw the photos appear on his phone next. 

 

Juhyun laughed. She looked up at the clock. “The guy who took you here’s probably waiting isn’t he?” she asked. 

 

Her words made him snap out of their moment. “O-oh yeah, I have to go. I hope you have a good dinner” he said, and leaned in for a hug. He wanted to stay and eat, but he didn’t want the man waiting for him any longer.

 

She hugged him back and pulled away. “Next time, you’ll get to have some of what I’m cooking” she grinned. 

 

“I’ll hold you to it” he said, seeing himself out. 


	5. Chapter 5

Hyunjae stared at the pictures Juhyun sent him on the way back to the dorms. He found himself staring at it again when he was in his room and changing. “Hyung?” Haknyeon peeked inside. “There’s chicken and pizza for you in the kitchen. You should go eat if you haven’t yet” the younger boy reminded him. 

 

“Hmm? I will, I will, I haven’t eaten dinner yet, finally some food” He said, pocketing his phone and going out, padding towards the kitchen. Everyone else was either in their respective rooms or quietly playing the video game in the living room. He saw the box of pizza that was only half-finished, as well as a half-finished box of chicken. Hyunjae sat down and helped himself to eat, while the younger went to the sink to wash the remainder of the dirty dishes. 

 

“What did they say?” Haknyeon suddenly asked. “That must have been a long meeting.” 

 

“They brought up what happened to her today,” he said in between bites. “And that Dispatch is going to try and fact-check the details on our relationship, and they’ll probably try and find out who our mutual friend is” He replied. 

 

“What? They’re really... “ Haknyeon frowned. “Who did you say was your mutual friend again?” 

 

“Jaehyun, of NCT. He’s technically her labelmate, and he’s also our friend, right?” 

 

“Oh yeah, but they won’t get to him so easily. NCT 127’s going to be busy with their tour” 

 

“Exactly” Hyunjae spat out the chicken bones on a separate plate. “They don’t even know it’s Jaehyun either, and it’s a good thing they won’t know”

 

“Maybe you should try and tell him that too, so he can be prepared for it in case they sneak around and ask them” The younger advised. “So was that all?” 

 

Hyunjae shook his head. “They’re planning on making us go on a very public date during the day.” 

 

“What?! Hyung, that’s crazy!” Haknyeon exclaimed. “It’s bad enough Juhyun sunbae got coffee thrown at her today, do they want her and you to come back from it the same way?!” He couldn’t believe it. 

 

“I know, I know, I reacted the same way too, but the photographer who’s supposedly our bodyguard in this stunt’s going to be there. He actually went by earlier when I visited her at her apartment” He recalled, remembering their photos again. Junyeol took a photo of him coming out of her building from the bushes. 

 

That made the younger whip around to look at him, a grin creeping up on his face. “You what?” he stared at him. 

 

“What?” Hyunjae knew why he looked like that. “I asked permission from them first before I could visit her. I just wanted to come and see how she was since she’s had a day like today” he continued munching on another big piece of chicken. 

 

Haknyeon’s grin grew wider. He turned the tap off and wiped his hands, joining the older boy to get more food. “And then what happened?” He was more intrigued than ever. 

 

“What do you mean? We talked, and took more pictures. She even posted her statement while I was there too” He said. “Why are you looking at me like that? We’re not really dating, remember?!” 

 

“I know, I know” Haknyeon waved a hand dismissively. “But it’s just that both of you have chemistry. It’s all I’m saying.” 

 

“Chemistry?” Hyunjae thought about their selcas. “We’re going to be like those couples people hate seeing being lovey dovey in public, myself included” He laughed. 

 

“Oh ho ho ho ho ho, look at what I found!” Kevin suddenly appeared, holding up his phone. Hyunjae turned around. It was an Instagram post by Juhyun, the photo of their hands. “Wow! La-la-la-la-lovestagram~” he declared. 

 

The older boy turned a shade of pink. Haknyeon burst into fits of laughter. “Hyung!! There it is!!” He teased loudly. 

 

“What are you doing on her Instagram?!” Hyunjae looked so flustered. 

 

Kevin gave him a look. “Because the management thought it’d be a good idea to follow her…? I downloaded the app anyway and I saw it” he explained simply. “Ooh la-la-lovestagram” He sing-songed, taking a bottle of water out of the fridge and heading back into his room. 

 

“Hyung, you’re as red as a tomato right now” Haknyeon nearly spat out the pizza slice he was eating in laughter. 

 

Hyunjae tried to eat some more, but sat back. He just lost his appetite. “You eat the rest of the pizza” he said, and the younger boy eagerly helped himself to the remainder of the food. 

 

“Maybe you should make your own Instagram too” Haknyeon suggested, still trying to contain his amusement from his groupmate’s reaction. 

 

“No, or not yet anyway” Hyunjae shook his head. He was still red. 

 

~ 

 

A few days later and it was the day of the fancon. Their relationship remained the subject of conversation for most of their fans, who were camping outside the stadium. Juhyun stared at her phone as she parked her car in the farthest part of the stadium’s parking lot. “You did good, Junyeol” she glanced at the photographer seated in the passenger seat. 

 

“Thanks, are you sure you’ll be okay? I wish I could have done something when whoever it was threw the coffee on you the other day” He frowned. 

 

“I’ll be fine and I kind of put that behind me. Just do what you have to do and then get yourself something to eat or go home” She said. 

 

“I will” Junyeol got out of the car and hid near the bushes. She got out as well, keeping her very blonde hair tied back in a ponytail. Keeping her purse and a lightstick Chunhee gave her close by, she stood by her car and sent Hyunjae a message. 

 

_ Juhyun: I’m waiting to enter the stadium. Break a leg today! _

 

Once she sent it, she took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself to deal with the fans that may or may not have taken the news very well. “Here goes” She muttered, walking several feet forward. 

 

“Juhyun!”

 

She froze for a moment when she heard some people call her name. “To turn or not to turn?” She muttered to herself, and shot a quick glance. It was some fans who were waving at her and as she expected, their phones were up. She smiled and waved back before approaching the table where the concert goods were being sold. 

 

“Wah, Hyunjae’s so lucky to have a supportive girlfriend,” She heard a fan say to their group, and they all hummed in agreement. “She even made time in her schedule to come watch him.” 

 

Juhyun just smiled to herself and picked out a shirt and his solo poster. The ones selling the merchandise were also just as stunned and were a little too eager to hand her what she bought. “Thank you” she bowed a little before walking to one side and taking a photo of her stuff. She sent him another message with the photo. 

 

_ Juhyun: Look what I got! I’m out here!  _

 

Upon pocketing her phone, she turned around to see if the line moved. None, and she looked back at her things. “Unnie! Unnie! Have this!” she heard a fan, who suddenly ran up to her and gave her a banner that had Hyunjae’s face on it. 

 

She laughed. “Thank you, thank you” she said, taking it and tilting her head to look at the photo. “Wow, he looks good” she was impressed. 

 

“Unnie! Unnie!” She heard another one call her again. “Juhyun unnie!!” 

 

Juhyun turned around, and the fan handed her another banner. “Thank you” she bowed in thanks, laughing at his picture. She took out her phone and sent him another message. 

 

_ Juhyun: In less than five minutes, I’m already being given banners with your face on them. Who would have known? Ha ha _

She was about to put her phone away again when she saw him reply. 

 

_ Hyunjae: You’re here! Come to the back entrance _

 

_ Juhyun: You sure about that? I can come later, you’re probably rehearsing! _

 

_ Hyunjae: I’m sure! And we’re just waiting for everything to be ready! _

 

She smiled in amusement. “Method, not bad” she muttered, putting her phone away this time. 

 

~ 

 

Inside, Hyunjae was staring at his phone while getting his hair and makeup done. He couldn’t stop thinking about his visit to her apartment the night before, and the photos they took. If they weren’t close before, he felt like they really were now, and he found it strange. Juhyun was already there, already going to watch and he saw the photos of the banners she was given. He smiled to himself at the thought. 

 

“Haknyeon told me what happened last night” Sangyeon suddenly appeared, leaning against the table once he was finished being made up. He was also grinning from ear to ear. 

 

Hyunjae sighed and shook his head in embarrassment. “Hyung, we’re not really dating, remember? Why are people reacting like we really are when we aren’t?” He said in an almost whine. 

 

The older boy still looked amused. “It’s like watching a real life drama unfold, I guess” He explained, chuckling. “Kevin also showed me the photo she posted too” He mentioned. “You two are doing very well” He gave a thumbs up. 

 

“I’m glad it’s working though,” Hyunjae partly tried to convince himself. “Anyway, she’s already here, waiting to get in. Some fans gave her banners of my face” He said. 

 

Sangyeon laughed a little too loudly, making the rest of the members look at them. “She is? We have to invite her backstage, we really have to meet her again” He suggested, a little excited. 

 

Hyunjae nudged the older boy, but he can’t help but be amused by it as well. “That’s not the only photo we took last night, in case you wanted to know” He said, peeking out of the waiting room. He backed away when he saw the man and woman walk down the hall and towards their room. “Oh no” he muttered, stepping back and bowing to the them, the rest of the group doing the same. 

 

“Hyunjae, Juhyun is outside, we’re having her brought here” The woman said to him in a low voice. He just nodded. 

 

They could hear the cheers and screams from the audience. They were already starting to get seated. The man gestured to someone outside to hurry up and to his surprise, it was Juhyun, being brought by their manager. Juhyun looked surprised and confused, and the boys bowed to her again as well, including Hyunjae. 

 

“Isn’t it too early? I could ask to see them after” She asked the two. 

 

“A before and after concert selca is good. We’ll need group photos and obviously one for the two of you, okay?” The woman instructed, taking her phone and Hyunjae’s while the man took the paper bag she was holding that had the concert goods she bought. 

 

“Sunbae, congratulations on your comeback” Sangyeon said, waving a little. She noticed he had a big smile on his face. 

 

“Please forgive our leader, you just so happen to be his ideal type” Sunwoo suddenly teased and laughter erupted in the room. Juhyun just laughed. 

 

“Please make way for my girlfriend” Hyunjae gestured her to stay in the middle, his arm casually around her waist to guide her. The members gave each other knowing looks. They were definitely not going to let him hear the end of it. 

 

Juhyun nudged him and they turned around. “After the concert, maybe you guys can sign my stuff in there” she pointed to the paper bag. 

 

“Of course, anything for our sister-in-law” Kevin grinned, and they posed for a few photos. They scattered so Juhyun and Hyunjae could do a couple selca in the corner of the room. 

 

“Closer hyung, you need to be closer,” Changmin commented. “Sunbae, both of you please stand closer together” he added. 

 

Juhyun laughed, feeling embarrassed. “Hyung, that’s not how you hold your girlfriend” Eric was trying to contain his laughter. 

 

“Both of you, come on, pretend they’re not here” The woman said, pushing both of them closer together as they took another photo. “Now, a kiss” she said. 

 

Juhyun and Hyunjae gaped at the woman. “Say what?” She froze. 

 

“A kiss” The woman repeated. “Not a peck, but a real kiss.” 

 

“H-here? I-in front of everyone?” Hyunjae stammered. 

 

“Please just do it” The man urged them. 

 

“Yeah, just do it” Sangyeon said, sounding a lot more calm, but Hyunjae knew he was trying not to laugh so hard. 

 

She looked up at him. “We’re acting, it’s no big deal” she pointed out. 

 

Hyunjae took a deep breath and nodded. She was right. It was just acting, and if he wanted to be good at it, he’d stop being so conscious. He took another deep breath and turned to her as well. He leaned in, she did the same, and in a moment, both their eyes closed when their lips touched. The whole room went quiet as they watched the two. The man and the woman took a few photos. 

 

They pulled away, Juhyun having turned a light shade of pink. “Excellent. There’s no way anyone can say this is fake” The woman looked pleased. “Well, now that things are done, it’s time for the show to start? Break a leg” she said and left. 

 

Juhyun turned to Hyunjae and the rest of them. “Break a leg, I’ll be going to my seat now” she said, and she hurried out of the room, the door closing behind her. 

 

Cheers erupted and Hyunjae felt his legs turn into jelly from what the two of them did. He slumped down on the vacant seat, still in shock. He wouldn’t dare tell them that they nearly kissed the night before. “Hyung, hyung? Are you okay?” Hyunjoon was watching him, grinning from ear to ear. 

 

“Whoop, there it is, whoop, and they kissed~” Kevin sing-songed while fixing his in-ear piece. 

 

“Looks like our present is stuck in what just happened” Sangyeon teased. He turned to the rest of the members. “Hands in, let’s do this” he announced. 

 

~ 

 

The concert began, and Juhyun watched them in amazement, waving her lightstick along to the songs and singing along. Whenever Hyunjae’s face flashed on the screen, her smile grew bigger. Despite the shock they gave everyone about their “dating” news, she was enjoying his company, including those who were around her and watching as well. Some of them even turned to her when Hyunjae came on from time to time. 

 

“Unnie’s so lucky, she’s dating Hyunjae” She overheard two girls say to each other. She tried not to react. 

 

She watched them move all around, partly hoping that Hyunjae wouldn’t come to their side. It was embarrassing enough to be pointed out in the crowd earlier. 

 

On stage, Hyunjae was scanning the crowd in front of them, in an attempt to try and find her. He managed to find the strikingly blonde hair with pink and blue in the crowd and he tried to wave at her. He saw her wave a little back and squeals erupted. 

 

“Wow! She’s so lucky!!” Juhyun heard some more girls say to each other in the midst of the loud music playing. She smiled to herself while she focused on the performance. She saw how charismatic he was, even if he was being goofy while they had their random dance party and interacting with the fans who were nearer. 

 

When the concert ended, she waited for everyone else to leave, stopping in her tracks when she saw a message from Hyunjae pop up. 

 

_ Hyunjae: Come to the back again!  _

 

Juhyun laughed, and typed in her reply. 

 

_ Juhyun: Again?! _

 

_ Hyunjae: Yes, again. We need another photo together, remember? _

 

Right, she had to come back for a photo after the show.  _ Hopefully they didn’t need to kiss again _ , she thought, going on her way out the other side, where the backstage was.  _ His lips were very soft though _ , she thought to herself, a little surprised when the security made way for her to pass through. 

 

Juhyun had been invited backstage several times before, but this time felt strange. It felt like it was her first time being invited all over again. She saw the man and the woman waving at her from down the hall, and Hyunjae suddenly appeared out of the dressing room. He was waving at her as well and gesturing for her to walk quickly. “So, how did your boyfriend do?” He asked, beaming with pride. 

 

She laughed. “You guys did very well. I’d come watch tomorrow’s show, but I’ve got tickets to see the NCT kids” She said, and Hyunjae led her inside the room, where she was met with bows once again. “You really had to find me, didn’t you?” She teased. 

 

“Good thing he thought of it too, it really plays up the relationship more” The woman said, beaming with pride. 

 

“Are you heading home already, sunbae?” Sangyeon asked, followed by nudges from the rest of the members. 

 

Juhyun nodded. “Pretty much, yeah. I’ve got a musical coming up this week, I need to do well for the press call the day after tomorrow” she said. 

 

“Break a leg~” Kevin cheered. 

 

“Just call me noona” Juhyun pointed out, and they beamed. “Except you, because I just think its weird” she reminded Hyunjae, who looked a little flustered at the revelation. He was getting nudged at by the members, who were still teasing him. 

 

“Alright then! One round of photos and then we can all go” The man announced, and Hyunjae gestured for her to stand beside him as the man and the woman, including the staff that were present took photos of them. 

 

“Make sure to post these on your Instagram or twitter, okay?” The woman told Juhyun, who nodded once they were done. 

 

Sangyeon looked over at Hyunjae with an idea. “Offer to walk her to her car, come on” He nudged the younger, with Kevin and Jacob getting the same idea as well. 

 

“Go, be a gentleman” Kevin muttered to him as they nudged him some more, nearly pushing him next to her. 

 

Juhyun showed the man and the woman the photos she took of them the previous night, and they all gave their approval. “Both of you have chemistry, even if this is fake” The woman looked at the two of them appreciatively. 

 

“I’ll walk you to your car, since you’re going home” Hyunjae suddenly said to her. 

 

She stared at him for a moment. “You will? You should go straight home, though, it’s okay” she said. 

 

“No, it’s okay, we’ll wait for him” The rest of the members commented, making her step back in surprise. “It’s really okay!” They kept assuring them, giving thumbs up. 

 

“Okay then, you can walk me to my car” Juhyun nodded. “Wait! Can you sign this first?” She took out his poster and a pen from her pocket. Hyunjae glanced at her for a moment before scribbling his signature on the bottom and handed it back. “Thanks” she smiled. “I’ll see you this week? My musical premiere, I think you’ll like it” she said. 

 

“Yeah! Haknyeon will be coming with me, won’t he?” Hyunjae looked back at the younger. 

 

“Yes! I’ll be coming to watch your musical” Haknyeon beamed, eyeing the older boy knowingly. 

 

Juhyun gave them a thumbs up and waved at them goodbye before leaving the room, Hyunjae following close behind and closing the door. Loud cheers and laughter erupted from the room, making the two of them look at each other. “What was that?” she laughed. 

 

He tried not to facepalm at their reactions. “Sorry, they can get embarrassing, you know how it is” He explained. “They think this is like some kind of drama on tv” 

 

She nodded. “Yeah, I understand. My members are behaving the same way lately. They think we’re going to really date sooner or later while this thing is going on” she shrugged. They approached the door and as Juhyun opened it, she took his hand in hers and he laced their fingers together. “Showtime” she said to him, and they stepped outside. 

 

Her car wasn’t nearby. “Did you park far away?” He asked, spotting a few fans who were taking photos of them. 

 

“I-I’m pretty sure I parked nearby,” Juhyun looked around. “If my car isn’t around here, it’s on the other side… I parked on the other side” she frowned slightly then laughed. 

 

Hyunjae waved a little bit at the fans who were nearby. “We can take a walk around, if you’re not in a hurry” He suggested. If the members wanted to wait, then he figured he’d really make them wait to get them back for embarrassing him. 

 

Juhyun glanced at him, thinking about his suggestion for a moment. She didn’t know where he was going with it, and for some reason she did want to spend more time with him. He was so easy to be with, and his hand felt especially warm in the midst of the cold weather. “I’m not in a hurry, so why not?” she shrugged, chuckling as they went to the back. 

 

Hyunjae nodded, letting go of her hand to wrap his arm around her waist. They heard the squeals get louder and they turned back to walk around the back of the venue. Juhyun felt her cheeks heating up at how close they were and she felt a little embarrassed. He did this in front of people. 

  
  


Once they were out of earshot, Juhyun and Hyunjae exchanged looks. “You’re really good” she said, looking impressed. 

 

Hyunjae let go of her and chuckled. “Sangyeon hyung tells me what to do, really,” he replied. “They’ve all been coaching me for this. I do want to be a good actor, right?” He glanced at her. 

 

“Yeah, you seem like you want to” She nodded. “It looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me,” she looked down at her hands holding the paper bag. “You know, it’s weird how we only met a few weeks ago and we’ve only seen each other twice in those few weeks , but I feel already feel very comfortable around you,” she mused. Juhyun looked up at him. “Knowing I feel that way is a bit like stepping into uncharted territory.” 

 

He nodded in understanding. “You’re not used to it, aren’t you?” 

 

“Not one bit. Or maybe it’s because it’s been a long time since I dated. I haven’t opened up much to anyone, not even the members,” Juhyun explained softly while they walked. “At the same time, it’s nice to talk, and I mean really talk, with someone” she glanced at him. 

 

“I feel honored,” He smiled a little. “It must have been tough, huh?” 

 

“A little, I have to admit,” Juhyun said. “I’ve spent my whole career trying to stand out, trying to be edgy because that was the image given to me, to my group, and I’m not complaining at all, you need to be able to stand out these days if you want to make it,” she pondered. “But sometimes I just want to blend in with the crowd. Not completely disappear, but you know what I mean?” 

 

“I do, kind of” He said, noticing the wistful look on her face as she said it. 

 

She smiled a little. “Just a day at a time, is what everyone would say, and I can tell you, it works.” 

 

“Of course, focusing on the present, and not worry about what happened in the past, or what’s going to happen in the future,” Hyunjae added. He worried about that too. “You’re the type that thinks a lot, aren’t you?” 

 

“Bingo” Juhyun nodded. “Spending time with anyone, with you, helps me get out of my head” She glanced at him. “I guess you’re the same” 

 

“How did you know?” 

 

“I just have a feeling you do,” She said with a nod, then stopped when she saw the outline of her car. “I see my ride” she broke into a jog towards the vehicle, and spotted Junyeol taking photos of them from behind a bush. 

 

Hyunjae felt a slight feeling of sadness come over him when he approached her and the car. He wanted to spend more time with her too, but he knew the members were waiting for him to get back so they could go home altogether. “Tell the NCT guys to break a leg for me tomorrow” he said, watching her get in the driver’s seat. 

 

The window rolled down and she nodded. “I will. On behalf of them, I’ll tell you guys the same thing tomorrow” she smiled. “It was nice spending time with you today” 

 

He smiled back. “So did I with you” he said with a slight wave. Juhyun rolled up the window and began to drive away, leaving him in the parking lot with his manager several feet away from the area. 

 

~

 

Juhyun drove back onto the road, going over the day she had. It was surprisingly a good one. No one throwing hot coffee on her, no one talking bad about her behind her back or while she was in a cubicle, no negative attention was present, and it made her feel good. She played their songs on her car speakers and sang along while driving down the road that led to her apartment building. 

 

She smiled to herself, recalling the conversation she and Hyunjae had earlier, including the surprising kiss they had to do in front of nearly everyone backstage. She didn’t want to admit it, but it felt a little...romantic. She sighed and shook her head. Not having dated in a while was making her miss being in a relationship. 

 

Her phone pinged and as she stopped at a red light, she saw a message from Jiwon. 

 

_ Jiwon: Come to the company building now! It’s urgent! _

 

Juhyun suddenly felt a little nervous. From how Jiwon sounded in her message, it seemed like something was wrong. When the light turned green, she drove down to the direction of her company building. The closer she got, the more she felt like something wasn’t right. Did Subin get caught? Did someone find out her relationship with Hyunjae was fake? She didn’t know, and a part of her didn’t want to know. 

 

She parked her car and got out, almost breaking into a run as she entered the lobby. The members would be in one studio by now, she thought, breezing through greeting the staff that were present. 

 

Juhyun skidded to a halt when she saw Yuhee and Hyunae in a practice room. She took a deep breath, preparing herself for whatever problem they were faced this time. “I’m here, what’s up?” she said as she stepped inside. Subin was in the corner, her face covered. She was crying. “What happened?” 

 

Jiwon, Hyunae, and Yuhee all looked so concerned. “Unnie, you’re not going to believe what’s going on” Yuhee said. 

 

“What do you mean?” Juhyun was confused. She eyed their dancer. “Subin-ah, did he hurt you?” she asked. Subin shook her head. “Did you two fight?” she shook her head again. “Then what?” 

 

Subin looked up. “He’s been doing something much worse, unnie. I just found out today, through the news, it’s not looking good for us, for me” She sobbed, while Yuhee rubbed her back. 

 

Juhyun looked at the other two members. “What did he do? Did he commit a crime or something?” 

 

“Pretty much” Jiwon replied softly, and Subin howled some more, sobbing uncontrollably. “That club he owns? Burning Sun? Authorities found some very shady stuff” she explained. 

 

She stared at her bandmate in shock. “What kind of shady stuff?” She asked. 

 

“We don’t know, neither does Subin” Hyunae said, looking back at the dancer. 

 

She nodded. She was still trying to process the news. “Have you been to that club, Subin?” She asked, trying to be as calm as possible. Subin shook her head. “Really? You really haven’t been to that club? Not even with him?” she asked. 

 

“No, of course not” Subin sobbed. 

 

“Good, because this would mean the police are going to ask you if they start digging, you know that, right?” Juhyun asked. She nodded, glancing at Jiwon, Hyunae, and Yuhee, who were now looking at her with concern. “Good. Since you just found out today, that doesn’t really implicate you, unless they get a hold of his phone” 

 

Subin sobbed louder. “Unnie, what do we do?” Yuhee asked, sounding helpless. 

 

“I don’t know. I honestly don’t know,” Juhyun shook her head. “The company surely knows, right? Maybe our CEO knows what to do, including the PR team?” she glanced at them. 

 

No one seemed to know the exact answer. Juhyun nearly forgot Subin didn’t know why she was in a fake-relationship with Hyunjae, but if they did, the two of them would be in very big trouble. 

 

~ 

 

“You’ve been staring at your phone the whole time ever since we got back, are you okay?” Hyunjoon nudged Hyunjae over at the dining table. He was still going over what happened earlier in his head, and it was all he could think about even as he ate his late dinner. Everyone else had gone into their rooms or into the living room except him. 

 

“Yeah I am, just thinking” Hyunjae got up and disposed of the pizza box in the trash bin. 

 

The younger raised a brow at him. “I figured you were. Whatever it was or…” He grinned. “Whoever that is, you’re getting smitten” he added. 

 

Hyunjae laughed. “We had a good talk, Juhyun and I-” 

 

“Aha! So you were thinking about Juhyun noona!” Hyunjoon laughed out loud. “She’s always been on your mind ever since you two had that first date, whatever it was” he said, teasing him. 

 

“Well, we’ve become good friends!” Hyunjae pointed out. “There’s nothing wrong about being good friends” he added. 

 

Hyunjoon chuckled and shook his head. “You’ve been staring at your photos, you know. You also took what felt like a long walk to her car,” he pointed out as well. “Well, she does seem cool. Taeyong hyung says she is, YangYang too” he mused. 

 

“Yes she is. She’s the coolest noona I’ve ever met-” Hyunjae said. 

 

“You shouldn’t call her noona, she even singled you out” Sangyeon suddenly appeared, having overheard them. He poured some water in his glass. 

 

“But she isn’t here” Hyunjae said. 

 

Sangyeon shook his head. “Even so. Come on, get into the role” He said. 

 

“What do you think I’ve been doing?” Hyunjae gave them a look, and his two bandmates just snickered. “Well,” he sighed, wondering if it was okay for him to say it. “She did say she felt very comfortable around me, and I actually feel the same way. I feel like I could be myself around her, and at the same time, she makes me want to be a better person” he trailed off, looking at his phone again. 

 

Hyunjoon and Sangyeon’s eyes widened at his explanation. “Lee Jaehyun and hopeless romantic in one sentence? Now I’ve seen and heard everything” the leader said, in slight disbelief, while trying not to laugh out loud at the same time. 

 

“When you say she makes you want to be a better person, do you mean she makes you not want to talk a little too much that you end up looking big-headed?” Hyunjoon asked. 

 

“That’s exactly what I mean, and it’s a good thing” Hyunjae said. “I actually, kind of like how I am around her.” 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a bit of a dilemma at first when referring to the boyfriend of one of the characters, given the current situation. Since it takes place in canon-verse a.k.a as idols, I decided on including the issue the "boyfriend" is in, or is slowly getting himself in as time goes by. It adds to the obstacles the two main characters have to overcome! But I might decide to just be as vague/general as possible about that since it's a serious issue too. Anyway! I hope you guys like this chapter!

Hyunjae stepped out of his room and went to the living room to face the other members, who seemed to be waiting for him. Some of them already had their luggage lined up by the doors as most of them were going overseas. “Okay, this is the third outfit. What about this?” He said, turning around a little for them to see. 

 

Haknyeon came out as well, sitting down next to Sunwoo. He was already dressed as they were on their way to Juhyun’s musical. The rest of them exchanged looks with each other. “Hyung, we said no baggy shirts” Chanhee said. 

 

“You shouldn’t dress like some 90’s high school bully either,” Kevin commented, making Jacob and Eric laugh. “Get rid of the beanie and fix your hair” 

 

Hyunjae sighed and took off the hat. He hoped he’d wear it since he didn’t feel like fixing his hair the way he usually did it today. Hyunjoon got up. “You’re going to a musical, you should dress a lot better, even more so since people will see you and they know you’re dating noona” He said, pushing the older boy back into the room. 

 

“It’s not like I’m not aware of that” Hyunjae gave the younger a look, showing him his already messed up closet. “I know I have to look good, because I’ll be expected to look good. Just like she’s expected to look good for me” he muttered, partly to himself. Their conversation the other night was stuck in his head. It was the first time he saw that side to her, as they never really conversed much in messages. 

 

He did like how he was around her. He liked it whenever they spent time together, and dare he admit it, he now looked forward to their weekly meetings despite the circumstances. Hyunjae was starting to get used to this, and he wasn’t sure if he liked it or not. All he knew was just to focus on what was currently happening. 

 

Hyunjoon looked through each piece of clothing Hyunjae owned. He pushed the hanger of black jeans towards him, slumped a black t-shirt over his shoulder and a leather biker jacket. “There. Wear that, we’ll go over accessories when you’re done” he said, then left. 

 

When he saw the clothes, he wrinkled his nose. “This might be too cool for me to wear, isn’t it?” He called out. 

 

“Just wear it” Hyunjoon insisted. 

 

“It’s too cold outside” Hyunjae called out again, making the younger return. He pulled out a grey hooded jacket and handed it to him. “Thank you” he said, closing the door to change. He looked at himself in the mirror before styling his hair, keeping it a little messy when he remembered that Juhyun liked that on him. When he was done, he stepped out again. “Okay, what do you guys think now?” 

 

“There we go, perfect” They were all commenting, patting Hyunjoon’s back in the process. “Not too dressed up, but dressed up enough for people to think ‘ah, he’s the boyfriend’ if you know what I mean?” Changmin said, giving a thumbs up. 

 

“Now, time for accessories” Hyunjoon said. 

 

“Accessories? I don’t think I need that” Hyunjae shook his head. “This is good already, just the bracelet” he added. 

 

“You’ll take what I give you and you’ll like it, hyung” Hyunjoon picked up a paper bag from the side of the couch and handed it to him. There were two bracelets, one red, one black. The red bracelet had gold clasps while the black one had silver. “You and noona wear that.” 

 

That made his eyes widen. “Couple bracelets? Already?” He asked. 

 

“The news did say you two were already dating for a while. We thought it was about time you two had something to…” Jacob paused to think. “To tell people that you two have, indeed, been dating for a while” he explained. 

 

“Think of that as a congratulatory gift for her musical too, so at least you won’t come there empty-handed. It’s the first show” Sangyeon pointed out. 

 

“You have a point” Hyunjae said quietly. He looked at the two bracelets and put on the black and silver one, pushing it back against the bracelet he was already wearing. He held up his wrist. “Okay, I’m ready. Haknyeon let’s go. We can get a Kakao Taxi” he said, taking out his phone. 

 

“Have fun!!” They all cheered for them. 

 

“Tell noona to break a leg!” Kevin said. 

 

“We will!” 

 

~ 

 

Meanwhile, Juhyun was looking out the window of the van as they approached the parking lot of the theater. There were crowds of people already lining up or preparing to line up for the premiere, and there were some congratulatory wreaths being brought in. There were fans already waiting for her near the back entrance, all of them holding signs and their cameras as well, and standing several feet away from the van. “Break a leg, Juhyun” Chunhee assured her as she got out, her hair and makeup already done. 

 

The fans started calling her name and taking photos, while she made it a point to walk slowly. “It’s cold, why don’t you all go inside?” She said to them. 

 

“We were waiting for you!” One of them replied, followed by a resounding agreement among the crowd. 

 

She laughed. “Then go inside when I’m inside already, okay?” She asked them, and they replied with a big ‘Yes.’ “Good. Enjoy the show!” She greeted them one more time before going inside. On her way to her dressing room, she spotted Park Hyungsik, one of her co-stars for the musical. He was playing the lead character Christian. 

 

“Juhyun” He waved at her with a big smile on his face while the makeup artists were touching up on the shading on the sides of his face. 

 

“Hi” She waved back along with a nod of her head before stepping inside her dressing room, Chunhee following close behind, and closing the door behind them. They saw some lunchboxes prepared for her by the fans on top of the coffee table. “They always know if I haven’t eaten yet. Should I eat now? Or do I save these for later?” She picked one bento box up, looking at the contents through the cover. 

 

“You should eat this later, or at least some of it now, and then eat it later” Chunhee advised. “Or if you need to get dressed, eat this later. I can step out” he said. “Is Hyunjae coming, by the way?” 

 

Juhyun picked up her phone to see if there were any messages. As she expected, there were several from Hyunjae. 

 

_ Hyunjae: Haknyeon and I are coming to your premiere!  _

 

_ Hyunjae: We got a Kakao Taxi! We’re on our way! _

 

_ Hyunjae: We’re here!  _

 

She showed the messages to her manager. “Oh, he’s here. You want me to have them come here?” He asked eagerly. 

 

Juhyun thought about it for a moment. He asked her to come before and after the concert after all. “Yeah, him and Haknyeon. Look for them and tell them to come back here for a minute. We’ll need selcas, if their fancon was anything to go by” she explained. 

 

Chunhee beamed and gave a thumbs up as he rushed out of the dressing room. She took tis as a queue to change into her costume. She left the room to look for the costume racks, with one that had her name on it. “Juhyun, you excited for the show tonight? It’s the premiere” Hyungsik suddenly appeared, fixing his suspenders. 

 

“Yeah, I’m nervous, and excited. I’m both, it’s like I’m doing this for the first time all over again” She smiled, looking through the name tags on the clothes. “Are you excited?”

 

“Of course, I’m nervous too,” Hyungsik pulled out the hanger that had her costume and her name tag on it from the very back. “Here you go” He said. 

 

Juhyun took it. “Thanks. We’ll do well tonight!” She cheered. 

 

“You too. By the way,” He said, making her turn around. “You and that Hyunjae guy. You two are really dating?” He asked. 

 

Juhyun raised a brow at the sudden question. “Yeah, we are. You found out about the coffee incident, didn’t you?” 

 

“It was all my friends could talk about,” Hyungsik replied. “I’m sorry they did that to you.” 

 

She shook her head. “It’s all in the past now, including the one that hit me with the ball” she laughed. “You know, you two sort of look similar to each other” she tilted her head as she looked up at him. 

 

“We do? I’ll take that as a compliment” He smiled. 

 

Juhyun gestured to her dressing room. “I need to get dressed. Break a leg later!” she cheered again before hurrying to her room to change. 

 

~ 

 

Hyunjae and Haknyeon looked a little lost in the midst of the crowd scattered all over before entering the theater. The older boy checked his phone, in case Juhyun would send a message, maybe invite him to go backstage for a moment before the show began. “Wow, look at all those congratulatory wreaths” Haknyeon pointed to the array of flower arrangements lined up along the hall. “Half of these are for Juhyun noona, the other one is… Park Hyungsik?!” He looked amazed. 

 

“He’s playing the lead” Hyunjae replied, looking at the messages on all the wreaths for Juhyun. Some were from the fans, and one wreath that was a little bigger than others came from the company, and the one next to it were from the members. “Do you think we should have sent one?” he asked the younger. 

 

“We definitely should have, especially you. But at least you have the couple bracelet to give her” Haknyeon replied. “We technically didn’t show up to her musical empty-handed” he pointed out. 

 

“That’s true” Hyunjae agreed, looking at the messages from the fans on the other wreaths as well, and turning around all of a sudden when he felt someone tap his shoulder. It was Chunhee. 

 

“There you two are. Juhyun’s inviting you two to come see her backstage first before the show starts” Chunhee said, gesturing for them to follow him. 

 

As they passed by more people, Hyunjae could hear some fans whispering to themselves. “Wow, the boyfriend really came to see her” he overheard one. 

 

“She’s got a very supportive boyfriend too. They’re relationship goals” He heard another. “I heard she went to their fan concert the other day” 

 

Hyunjae just smiled to himself as they pressed on, going to the back entrance where the actors and stage crew were busy hustling and bustling back and forth from one place to another to get ready. Haknyeon looked excited, while he looked nervous. They stopped in front of a door. Chunhee knocked a few times. “Juhyun? Are you dressed?” He said. 

 

“Yes, come in, come in” He heard Juhyun’s muffled voice from inside the room, prompting her manager to open the door. 

 

Hyunjae stopped in his tracks when he saw her, already in costume and makeup with her hair already done as well. Even if it was only a musical, he was amazed at how great she looked. Haknyeon also looked stunned, and he had a shy smile on his face. “You two made it!” She said, and the two of them bowed to snap out of it. Juhyun went up to hug Hyunjae and as if it was a reflex, he returned the hug with his arms around her waist. 

 

She pulled away and greeted Haknyeon as well. “We must have taken a while to get here because your costume looks hard to wear” He said, looking her up and down. 

 

Juhyun shrugged and pulled on the bodice of her dress. “Not so much, I’ve worn this during the press call, and it’s what I’ll be wearing until the end of the show” she laughed. 

 

“You look beautiful” Hyunjae said, trying to maintain his cool. 

 

“Thanks” she smiled at him. “You look really good too” 

 

“Thanks, Hyunjoon picked these out” Hyunjae replied. 

 

Juhyun looked at the time. “I’ve got a few minutes to go, so we can take pictures first? We’ll take more photos later when the show’s finished” she said. 

 

Hyunjae nodded and the two of them went to the side to take a couple selca first. Juhyun then gestured for Haknyeon to come over while Chunhee took their phones to take more photos after another. Haknyeon nudged the older boy. “Hyung, wasn’t there something you wanted to give noona?” he asked, eyeing him knowingly as they were done. 

 

“Hmm? Oh right, yeah, I’ve got something for you,” Hyunjae took the paper bag from the younger boy and gave it to her. “I had some help in picking these out” he said, with Haknyeon giving an approving nod. 

 

Juhyun glanced at him, as if trying to figure out what it was. She saw the bracelet and noticed the one he was wearing. “It looks really nice!” she said, taking it out and looking at it closely. “It even matches my costume too, I’ll wear it now” she said, handing it to Hyunjae. 

 

Hyunjae put it on her left wrist, similar to his. It fit perfectly. The two of them ended up looking into each other’s eyes. “There” he muttered. 

 

“Yeah. Almost like you knew what color my costume was” She replied. 

 

Haknyeon watched them and the way they looked at each other. He glanced at Chunhee, who seemed to be thinking the same thing. The door suddenly opened and to his and Chunhee’s surprise, it was Hyungsik himself. Juhyun and Hyunjae immediately let go. “Juhyun, it’s time to start” he said, bowing slightly to the rest of them while Haknyeon and Hyunjae bowed low. 

 

Juhyun nodded, clearing her throat a little. “It’s showtime. You two better get to your seats before the chimes start playing” she advised them, her gaze stopping at Hyunjae again. “We can talk later?” she said, trying to snap out of the moment they had earlier. 

 

“Yeah, we’ll talk later” He said. “Break a leg” he added before following Haknyeon and Chunhee out the room. 

 

Juhyun followed them out as well, rushing towards the crowd of her co-stars, with Hyungsik in particular waiting for her. “Hands in!” he said. 

 

~ 

 

“What was that?” Haknyeon asked Hyunjae quietly as they sat down at their seats. They were a little surprised when they found out that they got a really good spot in the theater. 

 

Hyunjae glanced at him. “What was what?” he said.

 

“That, that staring contest you two were having earlier” Haknyeon asked. He was clearly amused at the sight of his hyung. 

 

“The staring contest?” Hyunjae asked. He knew what the younger boy meant. “I was just caught up in the moment” he explained. 

 

“What kind of moment? A lovey dovey moment?” Haknyeon teased. 

 

The older boy shook his head and nudged him to pay attention when the music played louder and the curtains were drawn. He was truthfully, just as confused as Haknyeon was. He didn’t know what came over him when he put the bracelet on her wrist. It was making him feel uneasy, something he never thought would happen. 

 

He had seen her in a musical before, but this one felt very different. It might be because she wasn’t looking strange, wasn’t looking scary or sinister like in her previous musicals, she looked a lot more womanly, a lot more like a princess if it was possible. Hyunjae focused on the musical before them, smiling at the song and dance numbers that came in, and when he saw Juhyun appear, he had the biggest smile on his face. 

 

But his smile turned into that of surprise when the following dance number, the cancan, came on, and he looked away when he saw her lift up her skirt. Haknyeon also covered his eyes a little, but the two of them looked back and laughed at their own reactions and focused on the song and dance number being performed in front of them. Hyunjae was mesmerized at the way she performed and played her part. She really was an actress in her own right, and for a moment, he felt a little envious of her co-star, Hyungsik, who got to hold her in some parts. 

 

He remained mesmerized at the scenes and the songs and dances that he didn’t realize how fast time flew, and that it was already time for the curtain call. “Noona’s so good” Haknyeon muttered. 

 

The smile remained on Hyunjae’s face, growing bigger when Juhyun appeared to take a bow. “Yes, she is” he said softly, clapping as hard as he could and restraining himself from cheering out loud. 

 

Juhyun was waving to the audience, eyeing Hyunjae and Haknyeon in particular. Even though they dressed like they blended in, Hyunjae somewhat stood out to her. She figured it was because of his face. With his looks, he was hard to miss, and she eyed him, waving at him with her bracelet-clad wrist before she stood aside to let the other cast members pass and be acknowledged. 

 

The curtain slowly lowered itself before them and the lights went on. “That was amazing” Haknyeon turned to the older boy in amazement. “It really looks like something to see in the movies, and that scene in the elephant, wah” he raved, looking through the program he had with him. He then noticed the way Hyunjae was staring at the curtains and the stage. “Hyung? Hyung?” He waved a hand in front of him. 

 

Hyunjae snapped out of his stare. “Hmm? What?” He turned to the younger boy. 

 

“You enjoyed it too, huh?” Haknyeon replied with a grin. 

 

“I did, it was amazing” He nodded, the smile still on his face. He felt his phone vibrate and he saw a message from Juhyun. 

 

_ Juhyun: Both of you, come to the back~ _

 

Hyunjae showed the younger boy the message. “We can visit her, let’s go” He said, leading the way out of his row. They saw Chunhee already waiting for them by the door, and he led them backstage again, to the dressing rooms. 

 

Meanwhile, Juhyun broke away from the group hug her co-stars were doing and bowed a little to them before turning to go back to her room. “Send my regards to the boyfriend” Hyungsik said to her with a small smile. 

 

“I will” She nodded and went inside, closing the door behind her. Juhyun slumped on the couch, carefully removing the boots she was wearing. “Ah, that feels nice, to not wear heels” she sighed, placing the shoes to the side. There was a knock on the door and she only looked up. “It’s open, come in” she said. 

 

Chunhee, Hyunjae, and Haknyeon entered, all of them clapping for her. “You did very well, you worked hard today, Juhyun” Her manager handed her a bouquet of flowers and she only bowed in thanks. 

 

“The second show’s tomorrow” she sighed, smelling the roses and lilies on her lap. “Did you two enjoy the musical?” she asked the two boys. 

 

“We did, we really did, you surprised me when you lifted your skirt up” Hyunjae commented, sitting down next to her. She laughed. “Your acting was great too” He added, looking in a daze. 

 

The rest of them chuckled. “The set looked so elaborate and like in the movie” Haknyeon was unable to contain his amazement. “I didn’t think it would be so sad, but it was so moving” 

 

“It’s a tragic love story between a poor writer and a famous courtesan” Juhyun pointed out. “But I’m glad you two enjoyed it. If you’re going to watch the show again, I’ll still be in it” she said. She looked down at the bracelet he gave her and reached for her phone. “Your hand” she said to Hyunjae, and he knew what she meant right away. 

 

He held her hand, and she took a photo of their bracelets. Juhyun glanced at Haknyeon. “If you’re hungry, you can have some of my lunchbox, it’s gotten a little cold now, though” she said. 

 

Haknyeon waved a hand dismissively and helped himself to some of the food. Juhyun took another picture of their bracelets from another angle, and when she was done, Hyunjae did the same. “The red and gold matches your dress” He said, making a mental note to thank the members later on. 

 

“Good thing too, but even if it didn’t, I’d want to wear it still,” Juhyun nodded, smiling at him. “Thanks for this, next week’s going to be my turn for the couple things, do you have anything in mind? Or do I just go big and get us hoodies?” She teased. 

 

“Hoodies?” He asked. 

 

“Hoodies. I remembered the story given to Dispatch was that we’ve been dating even before the incident at ISAC happened, so we should have something big, right?” she said. 

 

“I guess so,” He nodded. “Ah, our one hundred days? Should we do something for that?” 

 

“We could..” Juhyun paused to think. “We could...have dinner at my place?” She suggested, although a little unsure. 

 

“Sure, we can do that,” He nodded. Hyunjae suddenly remembered the little dinner they agreed on the next time he came over or if she decided to come to their dorm. “I’ll finally get to try your oven-fried chicken” he said. 

 

“Mhmm, among other dishes that I cook” Juhyun beamed, and he looked impressed. “Are the two of you heading home after this?” she asked them. 

 

“I’ve got a flight to Hong Kong tomorrow morning” Haknyeon replied, his mouth a little full of food. “I’m going with Lucas” he added. 

 

“Isn’t Hendery also inviting both of you to come to Macau?” Hyunjae asked. 

 

“He did invite us to go there, just not at the moment” The younger boy said. 

 

Juhyun turned back to Hyunjae. “What about you? Are you going home?” she asked. 

 

“To my parents’ house, yeah. But I’m not going overseas or anything like that” He said. 

 

She nodded. “Well, you can come to the next few shows, if you like, bring along whoever you want” she said. 

 

“The other members, for sure” He said, looking down at their hands. He had gotten comfortable holding them, and he could tell that she felt the same. 

 

~ 

 

Juhyun had Chunhee drop her off at the company building again, after receiving a text from Jiwon to meet up again. She didn’t take her makeup off yet, and instead jogged up to the floor where the practice rooms where. She went inside, to see Jiwon, Hyunae, and Yuhee huddled over Subin, who was crying again. “What happened now?” she asked. 

 

“Well...she broke up with him” Yuhee replied. 

 

“Broke up? That almost seems impossible since you two really like each other” Juhyun was taken aback by the news. “How did he take it?” 

 

“Apparently, he tried hard for her not to do it, but, seeing as the storm doesn’t seem likely to calm down anytime soon, she had to do it, especially now that things are unraveling…” Hyunae explained, patting their main dancer’s back. 

 

“Hold on,” Juhyun bent down in front of her. “Does he know about my relationship with Hyunjae?” she asked. 

 

Subin nodded. “He does, but who doesn’t at this point?” she sniffled. 

 

The rapper nodded. “Okay, but did you tell him that my relationship with him was fake?” she asked. That question had been on her mind the whole day. If Subin told him, especially if she told him through text or chat, it would expose the whole deal. Jiwon, Hyunae, and Yuhee looked especially alarmed at the realization as well. 

 

“Yeah, did you tell him through text? Or chat?” Hyunae asked, a little firmly this time. 

 

“What difference does it make whether I told him or not?” Subin reached for another tissue from the box Yuhee was holding. 

 

“It makes a big difference because it’ll implicate Juhyun and Hyunjae” Jiwon replied, and covered her mouth in surprise at what she let slip. 

 

Subin stared at their leader. "Implicate you and Hyunjae? Then shouldn't your relationship be exposed all the more? Show everyone what the government's trying to make you two do" she argued. 

 

"Subin, it's not as simple as that," Jiwon chimed in, looking especially stern. "You'd not only be exposing your relationship that you two are supposedly working so hard to cover, you'd also be disregarding what Juhyun and Hyunjae are trying to do. They've already been supposedly dating for months when we all know it just started a few weeks ago" she explained. 

 

"Everything they're doing, and we're doing would end up being all for nothing, Subin" Hyunae added. 

 

"Unnie, did you or did you not tell him about Juhyun unnie and Hyunjae?" Yuhee asked this time. Juhyun could tell she was just as frustrated with Subin's explanation. 

 

"I...did." Subin answered finally. "I tell him everything, I thought I could trust him" she explained. 

 

Juhyun closed her eyes in frustration. She was trying not to yell or explode. Subin did tell, and it would only be a matter of time before their relationship would be exposed once again. Hyunae, Jiwon, and Yuhee patted her back, sounding just as frustrated as she was towards their member. 

 

"Subin, don't you know how to keep a secret? Why do you do that?" Hyunae chided. "Unnie, I'm so sorry." 

 

Subin looked at them in confusion. "Hey, I know how to keep a secret! I didn't tell him about the guys you three date!" she argued. 

 

Juhyun inhaled sharply. "Okay then, do you want to know the real reason why Hyunjae and I were told to do this whole publicity stunt? The actual real reason why?" she said. 

"Unnie-" Hyunae said. 

 

"Dispatch was already threatening the company that they'll expose your relationship and you know they'll make it messy while they're at it unless we gave them something better. Hyunjae and I were what they had to throw them off your trail," Juhyun explained, and Subin's expression dropped even further. "Hyunjae's also covering for a bandmate of his, but whatever that would be about is none of my business. So you see? We were doing this for you, everything we all seem to do lately is for you, and you wind up doing this?" She finished. 

 

"Unnie-I-" Subin sputtered. 

 

"You should have kept your mouth shut even through text or kakaotalk" Juhyun reprimanded her. "I have to go home now, I have another show tomorrow and then our pre-recording. The rest of you should probably do the same, get some rest because we're still promoting" She turned to leave. 

 

She broke into a run towards her car as she left the building. Juhyun was at a loss at what to do. Just when she came from a good opening show. She drove back to her apartment and as she parked the car, she took her phone out. There was a message from Hyunjae. 

 

Hyunjae: Had a good time earlier tonight. You did well, and get some rest! 

 

His message somehow felt like the only other good thing in her life. Juhyun realized that the good things that came today had him around. She hugged her phone, fighting the urge to cry on the way inside her building and to her apartment. She was starting to worry and she hated it. In a way it was her fault too for telling Subin that this was only an arrangement. Hyunjae might panic as well if she told him what's going on. 

 

She could only hope the company could do something about it. Juhyun didn't want Hyunjae to suffer. She stared at his message again, reading it over and over until she felt assured, but it wasn't enough. 

 

Juhyun: Can we talk? 

 

To her surprise, he replied. 

 

Hyunjae: Sure, is there anything wrong?

 

Juhyun: I can't tell you here, I need to see you in person 

 

Hyunjae stared at her latest reply. He had only just arrived back, and some of the members had already left for the airport. He suddenly felt worried. Could something have happened to her? He thought. He slipped his jacket on again and put on his shoes. "I-I need to go again, something might have happened" he said to Eric, who noticed him. 

 

"O-okay!" he said, looking a little confused. 

 

Hyunjae got on a taxi. He didn't need to ask, he already knew where she would be. As soon as he arrived, he paid the fare and dashed inside the building up to her door. He knocked on the door and pressed the doorbell. "Juhyun?" he said quietly, in the hopes she might hear him. 

 

The door opened, and before he knew it, Juhyun threw her arms around him in a hug, her face in his shoulder. Seeing him made her feel a lot better, like everything was going to be okay. "You knew I'd be here" she said. 

 

"Of course I did," Hyunjae said, rubbing her back. "You told me earlier, remember?" 

 

"But you didn't know if I stopped by elsewhere first," she muttered. "You just knew I'd already be here" 

 

"Because where else would you be other than the company?" Hyunjae replied. "Are you okay?"

 

"We're in trouble, big trouble, and I think it's all my fault" Juhyun admitted, pulling him inside and closing the door behind them. 

 

"Trouble? What kind of trouble?" Hyunjae asked curiously. 

 

"Subin's boyfriend? She told him about us, about our relationship being an arrangement, and now, if the authorities are going to see his phone, we're going to get exposed" Juhyun explained the best she could. 

 

Hyunjae was aware of the guy's current run-in with the media and the authorities. It was hard to ignore when it was all over the news now. "You mean people are going to find out that this isn't a real relationship?" he asked, and for some reason, saying this didn’t sit well with him. 

 

"Yeah, if Subin went into detail. I just found out when I stopped by the company earlier and I don't know what to do now" Juhyun said. 

 

He kept rubbing her back soothingly. "Do they know that she told him yet?" he asked. 

 

"I don't know, I just know she told me that she told him. If they get a hold of his phone, they'll find that out" She replied. 

 

Hyunjae was at a loss on what to do as well. The gravity of the situation began to hit him, and he held her tighter, as if trying to get a comforting hug as well. Juhyun felt it, felt that he also needed the hug just as much as she did, and she glanced up at him, as if trying to figure him out. It was comforting to know that they were on the same page when it came to the situation they wound up in. “Let’s just wait for what happens tomorrow, nothing’s been proven yet, we can continue this for as long as the companies need us to, we still have to go on that hundred day celebration, right?” he said, partly trying to assure himself as well. 

 

“Yeah, you’re right, we’re probably worrying over nothing” Juhyun was trying to assure them as well, “We’ll have to wait for what our agencies have to say about it, if Subin decided to do something and tell our CEO, that is…. We can just deny whatever she told him, right?” she added, thinking about what her groupmate could have said to him about their relationship. 

 

He nodded eagerly. “Yes, yes, only our agencies seem to know what to do in this case, we’ll have to wait and see… for now, we keep calm and just,” he found himself staring into her eyes. “Do this..” he muttered. 

 

It was then that Juhyun felt her cheeks heat up. She could pull away, but somehow, she didn’t want to. Hyunjae was the only person she could turn to at the moment, not even her labelmates or friends from other companies. Just Hyunjae. “Yeah, just do this... keep going, even if it’s going to get harder...and more worrying, the more this whole issue with Subin’s boyfriend drags on…” she muttered as well. 

 

Before Hyunjae could register what was going on, his eyes closed as Juhyun kissed him. She didn’t know what came over her as well, but there was an urge and she acted on it, even when she knew she shouldn’t have. She pulled away, her hand over her lips as if trying to process what she just did, and Hyunjae was doing the same. “Sorry” she said quietly. “I really don’t know why I did that, it was a spur of the moment thing or something” she looked down, trying to make sense of what she did. She, Choi Juhyun, leader of one of the biggest girl groups in the country, suddenly kissed her fake-boyfriend while in a vulnerable state. It wasn’t like her to be like this, then again, ever since the day she got knocked out with the ball, she hadn’t been herself. 

 

“It’s-it’s okay,” Hyunjae tried to lighten the mood, biting his lower lip as he tried to make sense of the situation himself. “We were caught up in a moment, I guess…” he observed the way she reacted. 

 

Juhyun looked back up at him, having regained her composure. “Yeah, that’s what it was… we were caught up in worrying, I just kissed you out of the blue” she explained. “And I called you asking to meet outside the set date…” she added. 

 

“I won’t tell if you won’t..” Hyunjae suddenly said. “This whole thing right now, I mean… we’ll see each other again this week too…” 

 

“Yeah, we will. You-they’re-your bandmates are probably wondering where you are right now or something… did you tell someone you went out at least?” She asked, suddenly concerned about him being here. 

 

“I did, I told Eric I had to attend to something, I just didn’t tell him I was going to see you…” He replied. 

 

It was then that they noticed they were still in each other’s arms and slowly pulled away. “Thanks, for coming over here even if it’s already so late at night” she said. 

 

“Thanks for the hug...and the kiss” Hyunjae teased, making her chuckle and shake her head. 

 

“I’ll book you a kakao taxi” She suggested, taking her phone from the kitchen counter and tapped on her screen a few times. Hyunjae noticed the lock screen and wallpaper she had. It was their first date selca. He smiled to himself. “Text me when you’ve arrived at your house, okay?” she said. 

 

“The app will let you know if I did, though” Hyunjae pointed out. 

 

“I know, but still. It helps to get a message from you” She said. 

 

Hyunjae looked at her for a moment. “It does, and I will.” he agreed. 

 

~ 

 

Hyunjae spent the entire ride back to the dorm trying to wrap his head around what he was feeling. Things seemed to be different now, and the more he spent time with Juhyun, the more he was beginning to feel the difference. It was unsettling, it was somewhat uncomfortable, that he kept thinking about how concerned she was for him, and their little moment earlier. He looked at his own phone, and at the lock screen and wallpaper he set. It was their first date selca as well. 

 

He still kept thinking about it when he set foot back in the dorm. Most of the lights were off except the one in the hallway leading to the kitchen. He moved as quietly as possible, stopping to drape a blanket over Eric, who had fallen asleep on the couch while watching tv, a half-filled bowl of popcorn on the coffee table. He was also leaving for LA, agreeing to meet up with Juyeon when the older boy landed a few days later after he did. 

 

Hyunjae stopped to send Juhyun a message upon remembering what she asked him to do when he got back. 

 

_ Hyunjae: I’m back at the dorm. Go to sleep, try not to worry about what might happen to us. I’ll do the same. As long as we can keep doing this.  _

 

He paused upon realizing what he had typed. He had already pressed send. Hyunjae was feeling even more confused as he went back to his room, hearing Haknyeon’s soft snores and seeing the clothes he would be wearing to the airport to leave for Hong Kong with Lucas. What was going on? 


	7. Chapter 7

The following week saw the dorm become emptier and emptier as everyone, including Hyunjae began to leave for their a few weeks’ long break. Sangyeon left to stay at a relative’s house, Hyunjoon also went home to his parents, while the rest went on their overseas trips, coming back to stay at their respective homes as well. There was also Sunwoo and Hyunjoon’s graduation that Hyunjae remembered he would be going to a few weeks later as well, but as of that moment, he could pretty much do what he liked. 

 

He still kept thinking about their last meeting. What would happen to them when things were going to be exposed? Why did he care how things were going to end when this was just an agreement in the first place? It was a work agreement, it wasn’t anything personal, so why couldn’t he get over it? 

 

Juhyun was also thinking the same thing. Promotions went as they normally did, despite some tension that was in the air ever since Subin revealed that she did tell him about their relationship being fake. It was hard to go back to normal knowing what could happen as the controversy kept escalating. But she was more worried about what might happen to Hyunjae if ever word got out. 

 

She kept scrolling back to his last message to her when he left after their unplanned meeting. They needed to keep going, even if it was going to get harder over time. They needed to be strong, because they’ll be facing an even bigger backlash if the secret gets out. His career would take a downward spiral just when it was building momentum, and hers would further go downhill if the backlash during the first announcement of their relationship broke out. 

 

The two of them were called to another meeting, and they had a feeling it was about Subin and her boyfriend. Juhyun got out from her car, made up and her hair styled again, on her way to the musical. She had to take her own car as Chunhee needed to bring the rest of the members to their other schedules. Hyunjae was right. They needed to wait and see how everything was going to unfold. 

 

She stepped inside the building, quickly bowing back to the staff that were greeting her. She looked around for a familiar face, until she heard someone call her name. 

 

“Juhyun” 

 

A few feet behind her was Hyunjae. “H-hey” she said, greeting him with a hug, that he prolonged in front of everyone, nearly lifting her off her feet. She was careful enough not to ruin her hair and makeup. 

 

“Hi to you too” He said with a soft smile on his face as he pulled away to look at her. “On your way to the musical?” he asked as they walked, his manager following close behind. 

 

“Yeah, on my own right now since the girls have some schedules” she replied. “You’re on break right now, right?” 

 

“Yeah, pretty much, which means I can come watch your musical again,” Hyunjae grinned and she laughed as they stepped inside the elevator. “Have you eaten?” 

 

“I have before leaving, yeah, have you?” She looked up at him. 

 

“I haven’t yet, but I’ll grab a bite to eat after whatever this is going to be about” He said. 

 

“You should,” Juhyun agreed and looked at the buttons on the elevator. “You were right” she said. “That we might be worrying over nothing,” she said softly. “And that we should just wait and see…” 

 

He nodded and glanced at her, taking her hand. “We’ll be okay” He said. His words were enough to assure her even just for a moment, that things would be fine, but Juhyun started to wonder why she cared so much if they got caught. It would mean that they wouldn’t be able to keep up with their ruse… but was it still a ruse? It was starting to get confusing for both of them. 

 

Juhyun held his hand, and they stayed that way until they reached the floor where their meeting would be held. Hyunjae opened the door and they saw the man, the woman, and Junyeol, already seated at the table. The two of them bowed to greet them. “We’ll make this quick since Juhyun has a musical to go to,” the woman said, and she gestured for them to sit down. 

 

“It’s come to the attention of both agencies now, that Subin’s boyfriend is currently in a run-in with the law, as the news keeps covering,” the man began to explain. “To make matters worse, Subin has apparently mentioned this arrangement to him. This is a huge setback in our plan, but we are not going to let it stop this thing. It can easily be denied, given the amount of photos we have, and the chemistry that both of you have with each other” He gestured to the two of them. 

 

“Exactly! There’s nothing to worry about if you two are worrying about it,” The woman smiled at them. “We just called you in here to explain the situation and how we’ll handle it. Please be prepared for your public day date next week?” She eyed them, and they nodded. 

 

“Good. This might be risky, but I know you two can pull it off. You two seem very close already, with how you’re holding hands the whole time” The man gestured to them. 

 

Hyunjae and Juhyun glanced at each other and then down at their hands, slowly letting go. “Sorry, a lot of people were downstairs” Juhyun said softly. 

 

“It’s understandable. Ah, and since we’re following with our story that we gave to Dispatch, do you have any idea in mind for your one hundred days?” The woman asked. 

 

They exchanged looks. “We were thinking a private dinner at her apartment?” Hyunjae said. “We kind of talked about it when we met again at her musical” he added. 

 

“Excellent. A private dinner it is, don’t forget to share a photo of the celebration. We don’t want that to be too public because people might think you two are trying too hard for the attention” The woman nodded. 

 

“Just leave the explanations to us, we’ll handle the rest of the situation in case the media exposes the arrangement” The man said. “Just relax, both of you” he assured them. 

 

The meeting ended and they all left the room, the two of them going straight to the elevator after waving the man, the woman, and Junyeol goodbye. “For some reason, I don’t feel as assured as I should be” She said as they stepped inside the elevator. 

 

Hyunjae chuckled. “Me too, but we have to try. You’re probably going to be running late now, are you?” He asked. 

 

“A little bit, but I’ll be okay” Juhyun patted his shoulder. “I could get used to this if they’re not keeping us in check,” she joked. 

 

“Me too, but, it’s nice to have someone else other than the members to talk to” He said, the elevator stopping at the ground floor. 

 

The two of them got out, his manager walking a few feet behind them. “I thought you have friends outside the group. Like Jaehyun, and Sicheng?” she looked up at him. 

 

“That is true, I do have them, and others,” He nodded, following her to her car. “But you’re different.” 

 

Juhyun raised a brow. “Different how? Because I’m a girl?” she teased. 

 

“Not just that,” He smiled, the two of them stopping at the driver’s side of her car. “I can’t explain, but yeah, you’re different, and it’s nice” he admitted. 

 

She opened her door. “Let me know when you can explain it, because as far as I know, I’m just another girl” she teased. “See you” she said, and he waved goodbye as she got in and started to drive away, speeding up. 

 

~ 

 

Hyunjae dropped by the SM COEX Artium cafe, where he saw Sicheng waiting for him, a cup of coffee in his hand. Next to him was Kun, and both of them were waving when they spotted him. “It’s been a while, have you two been well?” He asked, greeting both of them before they sat down again. 

 

“I was going to ask you the same thing, you and Juhyun noona, huh?” Kun grinned. “How are you two doing?” 

 

“We’re doing fine, we just met each other before she left for her musical, and speaking of her musical, does anyone want to come watch with me?” Hyunjae asked them. “I’ve got tickets” he added. 

 

Sicheng suddenly laughed. “I was going to ask why you’re not going with her but I realized she’s in it” he said, and the two laughed as well. “I want to but I can’t. We’ve got schedules in China again, and I’m preparing my dance routine for one of them” he said. 

 

Hyunjae nodded in understanding. “Good luck on that. I wish we could promote in China too, maybe someday we will” he said. 

 

“Someday, don’t leave that out,” Kun assured him. “You two seem really happy. You and Juhyun noona, that is” he shifted the subject back. 

 

“Of course, we’re very happy” Hyunjae nodded. “I-” he paused. He was wondering if he could tell them. “I think I’m falling in love” he blurted out. There it was. That feeling that was eating at him since they met backstage at their fan concert. 

 

Kun and Sicheng gave him a look. “Of course you are, otherwise why would you two be together?” the older boy eyed him. 

 

_ Oh right _ , he thought. “Yeah, I am, we are, and I came here because I wanted to talk to someone about it” he explained jokingly. 

 

Sicheng patted his shoulder. “There is no cure for being lovesick, Jaehyunie” he said. 

 

“Juhyun jie really is great” Kun agreed. “You’re officially lovestruck!” he kept teasing. “I’m happy for you, finding someone this early in your career.” 

 

He was aware of it. Hyunjae knew that whatever he would say, they would believe him because they didn’t know the truth about this being only an arrangement. He didn’t want to lie to his friends, but from how things went with Subin and her boyfriend, he can’t take a chance anymore. 

 

~ 

 

As the last show of the day ended that night, Juhyun hurried back inside her dressing room to get ready to leave. As she finished changing into her regular clothes, she sat down to remove her makeup. It was a good time to get rid of it, so she only needed to wash her face when she got home. Her phone buzzed and she saw it was a message from Hyunjae. 

 

_ Hyunjae: Are you still backstage? _

 

Juhyun raised a brow. She wiped off the last of her makeup before picking up her phone to type in a reply. 

 

_ Juhyun: Yeah _ . 

 

There was a knock on the door and she looked over. She glanced at the message again, and then back at the door. Juhyun got up, chuckling to herself. “Hyunjae, you really went to watch again? The ticket you have is for tomorrow’s matinee show” she said as she opened the door, only to step back in surprise when she saw the excited faces of her members. “Hey!” she said, opening the door wide enough for them to go in. 

 

“We watched your musical and you did so well! A little revealing, but you did well!” Hyunae squealed. “That key lowering thing I told you about worked!” 

 

“Yeah! I didn’t know you and Hyungsik had a little moment together there too!” Jiwon added, Yuhee squealing louder. 

 

Juhyun just laughed. She suddenly heard her phone buzz again and saw a reply from Hyunjae. 

 

_ Hyunjae: Good, let me pick you up in a few minutes?  _

 

She raised a brow at the message. Hyunjae? Pick her up? She thought. The members observed her. “What? Got a text from Hyunjae?” Jiwon teased. 

 

“Actually, yes” She replied. “He said he wants to pick me up. I’m a little confused. I’m the one with the car” she laughed. The girls grinned at each other. 

 

_ Juhyun: Say what? I thought you don’t have a license, and I have my car _

 

“Hyunjae must have had his manager be the driver, in that case” Yuhee figured. “You know, we haven’t met him formally, not even at the hospital when you were knocked out” she added, grinning. The rest of the members looked incredibly smug, including Subin. 

 

“I don’t know, I don’t know what’s going on in his head” Juhyun muttered. “Actually, I have no idea what’s going on in mine either” 

 

“What do you mean?” Jiwon asked. 

 

Juhyun shook her head. She really couldn’t explain it. She was getting so confused, and she was getting too comfortable in her role in the whole arrangement. “Nothing, like I said, I don’t know what’s going on in my head most of the time. But I’m so glad you guys are here”

 

“Shinwoo wanted to come, but he has yet to get a vacation leave. Maybe in the coming weeks, we’ll be able to watch you again together” Jiwon beamed. 

 

“The same goes with Kangho. He’s been so busy with his family at the moment” Hyunae added. “But at least Hyunjae’s been going” she teased, and the older girl shook her head. 

 

Her phone buzzed again, and Juhyun saw that Hyunjae had replied. 

 

_ Hyunjae: Just trust me _ . 

 

His message made her tilt her head in confusion. “If he’s coming to pick you up, can we meet him at least? Please?” Yuhee asked with a pout, and the other members did the same. “Please? Pretty please? Let us meet him?” 

 

Juhyun squinted at all of them. “Don’t tease him, alright? If he’s going to pick me up, someone has to drive my car home, and I don’t know if that’s possible” she shrugged. 

 

“Luckily for you, we all came here together because Chunhee oppa drove us here!” Jiwon looked pleased. “Hyunae will drive your car back, then we’ll pick her up. Sound good?” She suggested, with Hyunae nodding in agreement. 

 

She sighed. “Fine, but again, no teasing. We’re already watching our backs given the current situation regarding Subin’s boyfriend. Speaking of which,” she pressed her finger on the mirror. Her finger and the reflection of her finger didn’t meet. “Okay, we’re good.” 

 

There was a knock on the door, and Subin rushed to open it. To their surprise, it was Hyungsik, and the girls suddenly bowed at the sight of him. He was already dressed to leave. “Sorry, I thought you were alone, I was going to talk to you about something” he explained. 

 

“Sure, sure, we can talk outside?” Juhyun said, nudging Jiwon and Yuhee, who were grinning. 

 

“No, no need. We’re going to have a cast party when the last run is over, will you be able to come?” He said. 

 

Juhyun eyed the girls, and then back at him. “I don’t know, I’ll have to see. Are you going?” she asked. 

 

“Of course. I wouldn’t miss out. I hope you can come too. Well, that’s it. I’ll see you in a few days” he said, waving at the rest of the girls before closing the door. 

 

A moment of silence ensued. “Oh my god he likes you” Subin’s eyes were wide at the realization. 

 

“Huh? He does not” Juhyun shook her head. 

 

“Yes he does, unnie,” Hyunae nodded. “Did you see the way he looks at you? How long has that crush been going on?” she commented. 

 

The older girl kept shaking her head. “He was being nice, and there’s no crush to be had on his part” she insisted. “Just because a guy is being nice doesn’t always mean he’s flirting. Come on now” she tilted her head at them. 

 

Jiwon and Yuhee giggled. “Juhyun, I know you’re not that dense. Park Hyungsik, of all men, of all people, actually looks your way, breathes in your direction. The same Park Hyungsik who plays Ahn Minhyuk, that guy you like so much,” the second eldest pointed out. “Actually likes you.” 

 

“Yeah, unnie,” Yuhee said. “It’s not like you’re really dating Hyunjae anyway.” 

 

“But he doesn’t know that, Yuhee” Juhyun corrected the youngest. “He knows I’m with Hyunjae, and that we’re happily in love. I don’t think he’s the kind of guy who would encourage people to cheat” she shook her head. 

 

“Maybe not, but it won’t stop him from wanting to spend time with you as much as possible, you know” Hyunae noted. “Remember that time when we were trainees, you wanted to spend a lot of time with one of those sound recording guys because you had a crush on him? What was his name? Junho?” she recalled, and Juhyun turned pink. 

 

Jiwon laughed. “Yeah, but he had a girlfriend, one of the backup dancers, right?” she added. “But just because he was dating the backup dancer didn’t mean you couldn’t befriend him and hang out” she explained. “That’s what Hyungsik is probably trying to do.” 

 

“Unnie seems to be surrounding herself with guys who look pretty similar too. I bet, if Hyungsik didn’t know you and Hyunjae weren’t a real couple, he’d totally would have asked you out by now, in front of all of us” Yuhee grinned. 

 

The girls giggled, and Juhyun just shook her head. “I should tell you that he’s just being nice. He’s cute, and he’s nice, but no way in the world does he like me” she said. 

 

She heard her phone buzz and she saw a message from Hyunjae. 

 

_ Hyunjae: I’m here _

 

“Hyunjae’s here, isn’t he?” Yuhee asked excitedly. 

 

“As a matter of fact, he is. I have to go now” Juhyun smiled and picked up her bag. She gave Hyunae her car keys and the four of them followed her out of the room. She waved at the rest of her co-stars that were still talking to each other, including Hyungsik, who smiled and nodded at her. 

 

“See you in a few days!” he said. 

 

“Yeah!” Juhyun smiled back, then turned towards the entrance, where she saw the crowd of fans waiting. 

 

“Oh my god, he totally likes you” Jiwon nudged her as they stepped out, waving and smiling at the fans. At the end of the crowd, Juhyun saw a familiar-looking car. The window of the passenger seat rolled down, and she saw a familiar face lean over to wave at her. As she had expected, it was his group’s manager. 

 

“Shush” she told Jiwon. “I’ll be going now. We’ve got a radio show tomorrow, don’t forget?” she looked at the rest of her members. 

 

“Yes, unnie” The three girls replied, waving her goodbye as she went towards the car at the end. The door of the backseat opened, and the fans squealed when they saw a glimpse of Hyunjae, waving at them in embarrassment. The four girls hurried to follow Juhyun. “Hi Hyunjae, or was it Jaehyun, how do you want us to call you?” Hyunae asked smugly. 

 

Hyunjae turned pink. “Whichever you want” he shyly replied. He glanced at Juhyun. “Ready to go?” he asked. 

 

“You sound like we’re going somewhere” Juhyun eyed him suspiciously. She turned back to the girls, shooing them away. “I’ll see you all tomorrow” she reminded them, and they waved, looking pleased as the car drove away. 

 

As soon as they were far away enough, Hyunjae grinned, hitting high fives with his manager. “At least our plan worked” he said. 

 

“Plan? What kind of plan?” Juhyun looked confused. 

 

“A plan to let you unwind. You’ve been busy with shows the whole day” Hyunjae smiled at her. “First stop, the grocery” he said. 

 

“Eh?” Juhyun laughed. “Why the grocery?” 

 

“Just trust me” He said with a grin. “I thought we’d go on another planned date before I leave for my parents” he explained. 

 

Juhyun felt her heart flutter. It almost seemed like they had been doing that a lot more often than just once a week like in the arrangement. “Alright, as long as you get me home before curfew” she teased, and she noticed him look out the window and smile to himself. 

 

“How was today?” He suddenly asked. 

 

“Pretty good. A lot more people than I anticipated but it was a good show either way. Hyungsik even mentioned a cast party when this is all over,” she replied. “I told him I’ll have to see if I can make it, but that’s thinking a little far ahead, isn’t it?” she laughed. 

 

Hyunjae’s smile dropped a little, and he strangely felt relieved at her answer to that. “Yeah, who knows what plans you might have when the musical’s done” he said. He glanced over at her, and noticed her hand on the seat. 

 

She hummed in agreement. “What about you? How was today?” she asked. 

 

“After we had the meeting, I dropped by COEX, hung out with Kun hyung and Sicheng,” He replied. “They’re heading to China again” he added. 

 

“They’re the China unit after all” Juhyun nodded. 

 

~ 

 

The manager parked the car at the far part of the grocery’s parking lot. They noticed Junyeol already standing by, trying to keep himself hidden. “We’ve got so many witnesses to our relationship now” Hyunjae muttered. 

 

“That’s the idea, isn’t it?” Juhyun said with a small smile, and they got down from the car. 

 

The two of them stepped inside the supermarket, and Hyunjae quickly grabbed a shopping cart. He took his phone out, scrolling through for the recipe he saved. “People would think we’re filming a reality show, but we’re not holding any kind of camera” he chuckled. “Aha! Found it” he looked at the recipe again and pushed the cart towards an aisle, Juhyun looking confused. 

 

“You really have to tell me why we’re here” she laughed. “Are you going to cook or something?” she asked. 

 

Hyunjae beamed. “Maybe. I thought we’d do our 100 days now” he revealed, and Juhyun nodded in understanding. 

 

“Good idea. You get what you need, I’ll get what I need. You wanted the oven-fried chicken, didn’t you?” she said. 

 

“You promised me that” He smugly pointed out.”Let’s split up, and we can meet in the middle” he suggested. 

 

“Deal” Juhyun grinned and ran towards the meat section. A moment later, they met in the middle of the grocery. Juhyun had armfuls of ingredients, and Hyunjae helped her put the various bottles, bags, and containers into the cart. “You know, this feels like we’re playing house” she laughed, as Hyunjae pushed the cart towards the checkout counters. 

 

“House?” He asked. 

 

“Yeah, you know? When we were kids, and you were in a group of other kids and you pretended to be a family” Juhyun explained. “My cousins and I used to play that a lot. I was always the mother, and my cousin was the father and his younger sister, my other cousin, would be the kid” she said. 

 

Hyunjae tried not to smile so wide. He found it very adorable. “Haknyeon could be the kid” he muttered. 

 

“Hmm?” Juhyun glanced at him. 

 

“No, nothing” He shook his head quickly, and pushed the cart closer to the cashier. The cashier seemed to have recognized them, and they could tell they were trying to keep a straight face as they paid for their groceries. He offered to carry the bags, only letting Juhyun carry the lighter ones. 

 

“Do you drink?” She asked. 

 

“Not really, but I can” He replied while they went on their way back out. “Do you?” 

 

Juhyun smiled. “Not really, but I can” she repeated. “In the case of today, we need some sparkling apple juice. I’ve got wine glasses at my place” she said, sensing Junyeol taking photos of them from where he hid. 

 

Hyunjae looked impressed, placing the bags at the back while his manager started the car. “You have wine glasses even if you don’t drink?” 

 

“I do, but it’s mainly for people who come over that do drink” She nodded, getting inside. “Not that a lot of people come over. I think I’m becoming such a hermit.” 

 

“That’s not true. You’ve met a lot of people” Hyunjae shook his head. 

 

“It is true. Most of the people I meet, I meet in passing. But it’s better that way, some men can be perverts, and I mean actual perverts” Juhyun looked down as she said it. 

 

He noticed the way she said it. “Did you… get a run-in with one before?” he asked softly. 

 

“No, not me, but I’ve heard of people who have, some of them I knew in passing too, some were old friends” she said. “No one would bother do that to me, especially because my thighs take up so much space, they won’t see anything there” Juhyun added with a loud laugh, patting her legs. 

 

Hyunjae chuckled. “While I’m your fake-boyfriend, I’ll protect you” he assured her. “Even if we weren’t doing this arrangement, I’d do the same.” 

 

She caught his gaze, and nodded slightly before looking out the window again. Juhyun cleared her throat, in an attempt to break the silence that suddenly came over them. Hyunjae looked away as well, suddenly thinking about what he talked about with Kun and Sicheng earlier that day. 

 

~

 

The manager dropped them off at her building, with Hyunjae promising he’d book a kakao taxi after their get-together instead. Juhyun noticed that her car was already there, and figured that the members had already picked Hyunae up afterwards. “I hope you like cold city guy noodles” He said on the way up to her floor. 

 

“Cold city guy noodles? Like the one Q made?” Juhyun grinned. 

 

He was taken by surprise at her question. “You watched the show?” 

 

“I did. You acted like a jerk when you pranked Juyeon. You guys have a weird sense of humor” She laughed. 

 

Hyunjae couldn’t help but laugh out loud in the elevator. “We may have done the same to Sunwoo during his birthday last year” he recalled. 

 

“See? Weird sense of humor, or maybe because the girls and I have never done that to each other. The most we’ve done was forget birthdays, and we genuinely forgot our own birthdays at some point. Yuhee usually doesn’t care whether or not we remember too, which is saying something” Juhyun laughed some more, then sighed. “We should probably treasure those moments, but I guess we’ve become so busy.” 

 

He frowned slightly. “That’s a little sad.” 

 

“I know, and I’m sorry if it ruined the whole mood” Juhyun patted his arm. They stepped out of the elevator and went down to the door of her apartment. She pressed the numbers on the passcode and Juhyun kept the door open for Hyunjae to carry the groceries inside, after toeing his shoes off. “Make yourself comfortable, take over the kitchen with what you’re going to do” she said. 

 

“I think I’ll wait for you to start with yours first. The cold city guy noodles don’t take that long to make” He said. 

 

“Alright, but to be fair, yours takes a lot of prepping to do” Juhyun pointed out, quickly setting all the ingredients down on the kitchen counter. “You want to set the table first? The bowls and utensils are in that cupboard above the sink” she pointed. 

 

Hyunjae went to work, glancing over at her from time to time as he brought out the glasses and the plates. “If you need any help cooking, let me know” he said. 

 

“It’s okay, I got it” Juhyun assured him with a small smile. She washed her hands, leaving the chicken on the side to marinate. “Well, I’ve got nothing else to do for a while, we could do something else, like take proof photos of our date?” she suggested with a shrug, lighting the lone scented candle by the side table. 

 

“Sure” Hyunjae took out his phone and went up to her. The two of them took a selca together. She wrapped an arm around his shoulder while he draped his arm around her waist to pull her closer. 

 

Juhyun felt her cheeks heating up, and she cleared her throat to rest her forehead on his, staying that way when she heard the camera click a few times. He lowered his phone. They didn’t pull away. “What are you doing?” she whispered. 

 

He didn’t know what came over him. “I don’t know,” he whispered back, pulling her to face him. “What do you think we should do?” he asked, leaning in slowly. 

 

“I don’t know either” She said. “This is the closest we’ve been since the fan con.” 

 

“That, I know” He nodded slightly. 

 

“Mhmm” she nodded. “We’ve been doing this for a while” 

 

“We have” 

 

“From the way this is going, it seems like we’re going to kiss” She whispered, leaning in some more. 

 

“Yeah, we’ve kissed before, right?” Hyunjae said. 

 

“We did, in front of all your members, some of your staff” she nodded. “Nearly everyone” 

 

“And we kissed again the other time we met” He recalled. 

 

She turned pink. “Yes we did, but it was an accident, we were caught up in a moment, I was vulnerable, even if I know I shouldn’t be.” 

 

“We feel what we feel sometimes” he commented. 

 

“That’s true” She nodded, and slowly pulled away. “I need to cook the chicken, we need to cook now” she reminded him, and he let go of her. 

 

Hyunjae tried to stifle the sound of frustration he made and bit his lip while he set up the ingredients for his dish. The sound of sizzling filled the apartment, along with the smell of chicken being fried. The strange tension between them remained all throughout as they quietly cooked the food, unsure about what just happened between them. It must have been the smell of lavender from the scented candle making them act this way, Juhyun thought. 

 

When she finally placed the chicken in the oven to bake, she washed her hands and cleaned up what she used, looking over at Hyunjae, who was putting the finishing touches to the noodles on the plates. “That looks really good” she said, watching him. 

 

“Thanks” he smiled a little and brought the plates to the table. Juhyun was quick to open the bottle of sparkling juice and poured some into their glasses. “Everything smells so good” he glanced at the oven. 

 

They sat down, and Juhyun held up her glass, making him hold up his own. “To a supposed 100 days to us, and to our upcoming first month of successfully fooling people” she said. 

 

“Cheers” He clinked his glass with hers and they took a sip. 

 

She wrinkled her nose. “Sparkling indeed” she said with a laugh, and twirled the noodles around her fork. She suddenly put it down to get her phone. “My turn to take proof shots” she said. “Just pretend you’re about to eat” 

 

Hyunjae laughed out loud. “I don’t need to pretend! I’m hungry!” he said, and as he took the first bite, Juhyun took a photo. He looked up, his mouth full, in time for her to take another photo. 

 

“Even when you’re stuffing your face, you look good, wow” Juhyun looked impressed. She scrolled through the rest of her feed. All her photos seemed to be of the two of them lately. 

 

He beamed. “Yeah? Thanks” he said. 

 

“Mhmm” She hummed, putting her phone away to take the first bite. “I guess I was missing out because this is good” she said, twirling her fork around more noodles. 

 

“Changmin would be so happy. Maybe next time I could make you the fried seaweed rolls” he teased. 

 

“I’ve had some before” she said in between bites. 

 

“You haven’t had the ones I made yet” He grinned upon pointing it out. 

 

Juhyun laughed. “Oh yeah, what’s so special about the ones you made?” she teased. 

 

“What’s special is that I made them” Hyunjae teased back.    
  



	8. Chapter 8

Juhyun brought out the hot tray of chicken from the oven, quickly setting it down when the heat seeped through the oven mittens she wore. Hyunjae stood by to close the oven door, and watched her cut through each piece to place it on the serving plate she brought out. They ate quietly while they waited, but not slow enough that they wound up finishing their food before it was done. “My mouth is watering already” She chuckled, bringing the plate to the table. 

 

They sat back down and ate again, Hyunjae nodding enthusiastically at the taste. Juhyun laughed at his reaction and watched him swallow. “This is the best chicken I’ve ever tasted…” he said, in awe. 

 

“It should taste good, I’ve been making it a lot” She pointed out with a chuckle. Juhyun looked down at her plate, and shook her head upon remembering something. “The girls, really…” she muttered. 

 

He raised a brow in curiosity. “What? What did they do?” he asked. 

 

Juhyun sighed and shook her head. “Hyungsik, dropped by my dressing room earlier before you came to pick me up,” she began. “He was telling me about the cast party we’ll be having when the show’s finished its run, and when he left, the girls kept telling me that he likes me” she explained. “It’s silly right? He’s just being nice, he knows we’re together, just because he’s nice doesn’t mean that he’s flirting or something, right?” 

 

Hyunjae felt his heart sink slightly at her explanation, and he cleared his throat, trying to come off unbothered. “Yeah, of course” he nodded in agreement. 

 

“See? It doesn’t mean he likes me” Juhyun said. “For all we know, he’s probably dating his co-star in one of his dramas,” She sighed. “Ahn Minhyuk, his character was so cute there” she smiled upon remembering. 

 

“You like that drama?” Hyunjae knew what she meant. “I haven’t really watched it.” 

 

Juhyun shook her head. “It’s alright, I didn’t think you were the type to” she said, picking at her food. “But I do like that drama. He’s so devoted to her, and he never wanted her to change who she was, but he helped her be the best she could be” She swooned at the thought. Juhyun blinked and glanced at him. Hyunjae had been watching her with a sort of, loving expression on his face. “You probably think I’m silly, pining after that kind of guy, who doesn’t even exist.” 

 

“No, I don’t think it’s silly at all,” Hyunjae shook his head quickly, breaking out of a sort of trance he was in when he listened to her. “I like it when people I know tell me how much they like something. You like Ahn Minhyuk, I think it’s nice that you do” he said. 

 

“Yeah? You’re not jealous?” She teased, taking a few bites out of her food. “I’m talking about another guy in front of my fake boyfriend?” she kept teasing. 

 

Hyunjae laughed. “Ahn Minhyuk, like you said, doesn’t exist!” he pointed out. “We however, do exist! Just-” He paused. “Not in the way people believe” 

 

Juhyun just smiled. “That’s true” She went back to eating, taking sips of her drink every now and then until she finished. She watched him eat. “Your hair looks sexy pushed back” she said quietly. 

 

He turned a little pink. “Hmm?” 

 

“I said your hair looks sexy pushed back. I’ve been saying it for a while” She chuckled. “But your hair being this kind of messy looks nice too.” 

 

He beamed. “I kept that in mind whenever we meet,” he said. Juhyun just smiled at the thought. Hyunjae looked at his now empty plate, and the now empty dish in front of them. “D-do we have anything for dessert?” He asked. 

 

Juhyun nodded, getting up to clear their plates. “Some chocolate..I’ll have to look into the fridge” She said, bringing the dishes to the sink. 

 

Hyunjae stood up. “I’ll help you-” He said, walking up only for the two of them to stand flush against each other, his arm instantly around her waist for support when he nearly lost his balance. 

 

Juhyun felt her cheeks heating up, and she looked up at him. “Uh, there’s chocolate pudding,” she muttered. “Snack packs, a gift from a foreign fan” she added. 

 

“Pudding it is then” He said softly, still keeping his hold on her. “We keep getting into this kind of thing lately.” 

 

She figured out what he meant. “These...awkward silences? Awkward moments?” She asked. He hummed in agreement. 

 

“Is it really awkward? We’re almost always around each other” He asked this time. 

 

“That’s true,” Juhyun sighed. “If we keep getting caught up in the moment, we may as well take a picture, if you know what I mean.” 

 

Hyunjae reached for his phone from his pocket, but he put it down on the counter as he suddenly leaned in to kiss her. It was a different kind of kiss, it felt different for sure. It felt like something out of a drama. Juhyun felt her heart flutter even more. She couldn’t pull away, and she didn’t want to. The two of them were getting so caught up in these moments, more so than before lately. It could’ve been because of how tricky things were getting due to Subin’s boyfriend, and it could’ve been the sparkling apple cider they’ve been drinking. But this felt needed, photo or no photo. 

 

Juhyun slowly pulled away, both of them lingering. He cleared his throat and let her go when she took a step back. “So...pudding?” She cleared her throat as well and turned around to take the pudding cups from the fridge. 

 

~ 

 

The five members of Yeosin stood in front of a small camera the following week for a V-Live broadcast. “You guys, we told you to look out for a v-live from us within this time and now we’re here because we’ve got an announcement!” Yuhee squealed, the rest of them trying to stay calm as well. 

 

“As our 8th anniversary is approaching, we are going to be holding…” Jiwon paused, checking their reactions. “A big anniversary concert!!” and the five of them cheered. 

 

“Our anniversary concert is our way to say thank you to all of our Sirens who have been supporting us for these past eight years, and it’s going to be the biggest thing we’ve ever done in terms of concerts” Hyunae spoke. “Like big!” 

 

“Giant!” Subin chimed in. 

 

“And what makes this anniversary concert especially big is because we want you, yes, you, all of you,” Juhyun pointedly said to the camera. “To be there and experience everything with us, in real time! That’s right, our one-night anniversary concert is going to be LIVESTREAMED” She announced, making the girls cheer. “Right here on the V app. One night only!” 

 

“In case you unfortunately miss it, there’s the concert dvd coming soon! There will be extras included in that dvd and a photobook full of behind the scenes photos!” Subin said. 

 

“We’ll catch you on our anniversary soon!!” Juhyun said, and they all waved to the camera before turning it off. Chunhee left the room with the camera, leaving them alone in one of the company’s conference rooms. As the door closed, the girls all looked at her. “What?” She asked. 

 

“So? What happened last week? You didn’t post anything” Jiwon said, rather excitedly. 

 

“Yeah! Hyunjae doesn’t even use any other sns except the group one, what happened after he picked you up?” Hyunae grinned. 

 

Juhyun shook her head, internally debating on whether or not to tell them. “Well, he was leaving for his parents’ home and he thought it would be a good idea to do the whole 100-days thing? You know what you and your boyfriends did on your 100 days?” She explained, and they giggled. 

 

“It must be romantic if you two are trying to keep this whole thing up for everyone else” Jiwon said. 

 

“Yeah, it was romantic,” The leader admitted, smiling as she remembered. “We didn’t do it out in public but we went to a grocery first to get what we needed because we were going to cook” 

 

The four other girls swooned. “And then what happened? You two cooked at your place, unnie?” Yuhee asked. The older girl hummed in response and they swooned even more. 

 

“Oh right,” Subin suddenly remembered. “He cooked in that show they were in before they debuted! He made those seaweed rolls, didn’t he?” She asked. 

 

She shook her head. “No, he made the cold city guy noodles” 

 

“And how did those taste! I wasn’t able to figure out that recipe!” Jiwon nearly squealed. 

 

“I’m not sure how his groupmate made them, but I guess I was missing out because it tasted really good” Juhyun nodded. “I cooked him my oven-fried chicken, I promised him I would after he dropped by my place before” she explained. 

 

“The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach” Hyunae said knowingly. “He liked the chicken, right?” 

 

“Of course he did” Juhyun nodded. She studied their expressions and sighed. She wanted to talk to someone, someone she could trust, about what was going on between them lately. “It’s just that… this is getting weird between him and I” she managed to say. 

 

The girls looked confused. “Weird how? Like weird-weird? Or weird as in ‘you’re getting confused about what’s real and what isn’t between you and Hyunjae’ weird?” Hyunae asked with a brow raised. 

 

“The...latter” Juhyun said. 

 

They broke into small smiles. “How? Did something happen?” Yuhee asked this time. 

 

“A….lot of things happened. We actually… kissed more than one occasion, and the other night was the latest one” Juhyun looked uneasy saying it. 

 

The members broke into squeals and giggles. “This is just like a drama, and I am loving it!” Subin exclaimed. “When you say kissed, you mean, kissed out of character?” She asked, her voice low so as no one could overhear them from outside the room. The older girl nodded, and they squealed even more. 

 

“Oh my god, you and Hyunjae might be dating for real by the time this arrangement is called off” Jiwon grinned at the thought. “It would be nice though. You being less of a hermit, even if it’s just for him.” 

 

“I’m not that bad a hermit!” Juhyun gave her a look. 

 

“Are you kidding? When the rest of us were busy with some schedules and you were free, you never set foot outside your apartment” Subin pointed out. 

 

“You never even pick up your phone except for when you go out, and there was even a time where we had to send Chunhee oppa to come over and see if you’re okay” The maknae added. “It’s that bad, unnie.”

 

Juhyun shrugged it off. “Better a hermit than encounter a perverted creep” she said, and they nodded in thought. 

 

“So, how are you feeling? And more importantly, how were the kisses?” They asked, looking very intrigued this time. 

 

She shook her head. “I have no idea how I feel about it. I mean, it’s possible to get carried away when doing scenes, you know? We might have just got caught in the moment,” she explained with a shrug. “And, Hyunjae was good. He’s good. Gentle, but good” She added. 

 

They swooned. “Did sparks fly or something? Like did your heart flutter when he kissed you?” Subin asked. 

 

Juhyun gave them a look. “Yeah, but like I said, it’s possible to get carried away” She insisted. “Hyunjae doesn’t like me for real, he probably just thinks he does because of this arrangement” she frowned, even if she knew it might be otherwise. 

 

“Oh come on, are you kidding me, unnie?” Hyunae raised a brow at her. “You really can’t be that dense! You are a catch! Literally every guy wants to be Hyunjae because of you!” 

 

“Or every girl wants to be me because of him” Juhyun pointed out. “I don’t know, I’d rather not assume. Even if I kind of know, I just don’t want to assume” She shook her head. “I hate being so perceptive at times, it just shows and I can’t lie.” 

 

“Honesty is the best policy” Yuhee pointed out. 

 

“Not so good when everything can be seen from my face” Juhyun frowned even more. “He’s at his parents right now, and he’ll be back in the city for his bandmate’s graduation” She remembered what he told her. 

 

“So are you going to see each other by then?” Jiwon asked. 

 

She shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe not. We need a little break from the planned dates, right?” She said. 

 

“I suppose, but they’ll be on a break for a while, aren’t they?” Hyunae asked, and she nodded. “He’ll have a lot of time to see you, maybe watch us perform on music shows? Both of you will have time to be more public…?” 

 

The girls nodded. “She’s got a point, unnie. He’ll have time for you” Yuhee said. 

 

Juhyun didn’t know what to do. She was getting so confused about her feelings for Hyunjae. All she knew was that the more they spent time together, whether public or not, the more she was beginning to get used to seeing him. If he kept working hard at keeping up this arranged relationship and kept treating her well, she knew it was going to be hard when it finally ended. 

 

~ 

 

Hyunjae was thinking the same thing. Even when he hung out with his friends from home, even when he spent time with his family, this whole arrangement between them was all he could think about. “So, we heard the news about you and that girl” His mother said to him over lunch. 

 

“Yeah, you two have been together for a while, and you didn’t even tell us” His father added. 

 

“Oh yeah, Juhyun and I” He nodded. 

 

“Isn’t she older than you?” His father asked. 

 

“Yes, but she doesn’t like it if I call her noona. She says it feels weird” Hyunjae replied. 

 

“Didn’t think older girls were your type” His mother suddenly said. 

 

_ They certainly were now _ , he thought. He couldn’t tell them that this was all just an arrangement. But at the same time, he didn’t want to tell them because he was beginning to get confused. The more they were together, the more he didn’t want to let her go once the arrangement was called off. 

 

Hyunjae cleared his throat. “I like her because I just do, there’s really no other reason than me wanting to be with her and she feels the same way” He explained, with a little finality in his voice. 

 

His parents seemed to have understood. “What about your dream? Doesn’t your relationship get in the way?” They asked. 

 

He shook his head. “We only agree to meet once a week, and we perfectly understand how this will work now that we’ve become public” He explained. 

 

“Well, as long as it doesn’t affect what you’re doing” they said. “Relationships can affect a whole group, you know.” 

 

“Of course I know,” Hyunjae replied, in between bites of food. “But they were all understanding and supportive. They even ask for her to come backstage. She’s Sangyeon’s ideal type too.” 

 

“Why didn’t Sangyeon go after her then?” They teased, lightening the mood. 

 

“I just got to her first” Hyunjae tried to sound proud, but not too proud at the idea. “And, she likes me, not him in that way” He pointed out. 

 

He offered to clean up when everyone else was done, and turned on his computer to get back into his game. He had been so caught up with his schedules and his fake relationship that he wound up too exhausted to even log on. He was glad they were on some kind of break now before they were going to get busy later. 

 

He was in the midst of playing an hour later when he saw his phone light up several times. He looked over and saw that Juhyun had been posting on her Instagram. He followed Kevin into downloading the app and using their official account to take a look at what was going on. It was really how they found out what their fans were up to. 

 

Hyunjae quickly paused to take a look. She was posting what she ate, and some photos backstage, including one photo with Hyungsik. He noticed the caption she placed in that photo: 

 

_ Min-Min! _ Followed with a heart emoji and a laughing emoji. 

 

“Min-Min” He mumbled, looking back at what was going on in his game. “He gets a special nickname from her and I don’t” He shook his head. He had the urge to write a comment on her posts, but he didn’t. It would be weird to use the group account to do it. 

 

Hyunjae paused playing again and picked up his phone to send her a message instead. 

 

_ Hyunjae: You call him Min-Min now? _

 

A few minutes later, she replied. 

 

_ Juhyun: How did you know?  _

 

He chuckled, and typed in a response. 

 

_ Hyunjae: I’m looking at your photos through the group account ha!  _

 

_ Juhyun: Are you allowed to do that?  _

 

_ Hyunjae: Why not?  _

 

_ Juhyun: You’ll get caught!  _

_ Hyunjae: How are they going to catch me when it’s a group account? For all we know our staff’s the one looking?  _

 

_ Juhyun: ...This guy _

 

Hyunjae laughed at their messages. He pictured how she was reacting to his teasing. He started typing another message, but before he pressed send, she sent him a message. 

 

Juhyun: We’re having our anniversary concert soon. If you want to come, let me know and I’ll get you tickets. 

 

Hyunjae: Of course I’ll come 

 

Juhyun: Great

 

~ 

 

Because Juhyun was so busy with their promotion schedules and her musical, the two of them weren’t able to meet for a few weeks despite the agreement of having one arranged meeting every week. She was all Hyunjae could think about and despite their casual texting and messaging on kakaotalk, he wanted to see her, and she wanted to see him. 

 

He attended Hyunjoon and Sunwoo’s graduation. He stood by, watching the ceremony progress despite knowing that some people came to see them and were expecting to see them. “...Yeosin doesn’t have a member that’s still in high school, right?” He looked over at Changmin. 

 

The younger boy gave him a look. “They’re all adults, hyung” he laughed. “Were you expecting they’d show up here? I don’t think they’ve got relatives graduating, at least in this school” he said. 

 

“If they did have relatives graduating this year, there’s a chance they might be from other schools, not this one” Jacob added. 

 

Changmin noticed the slight change in Hyunjae’s expression. “Are you...hoping you’d see her around here, hyung?” He asked softly. 

 

Hyunjae shrugged. “I don’t even know. I was just curious” He replied, but the younger looked at him suspiciously, until his eyes widened. 

 

“Hyung… do you like her for real?” Changmin gaped at him. 

 

The question made him freeze. He couldn’t pay attention to the ceremony going on. Hyunjae remembered what he said to Kun and Sicheng when they met up. He was falling in love with her, or at least he thinks he is. “How did you come to that conclusion?” He whispered, getting flustered by the question. 

 

The younger boy stared at him. “She’s all you talk about whenever we’re done practicing, you’re now suddenly looking for her, you’re actually listening to the fashion choices we’re making for you,” He enumerated. “And, the thing I can’t believe most of all? You know what kind of face cream you use instead of asking your mom to buy it for you.” 

 

Hyunjae gave him a look. “Can’t I start knowing all those things without it meaning I like Juhyun?” He asked. 

 

“What are you two talking about? Can’t you pay attention?” Jacob whispered to them. 

 

“Hyung, I was just asking Hyunjae if he likes Juhyun noona for real” Changmin explained. 

 

Jacob noticed the look on Hyunjae’s face, and then at what Changmin said. “So, do you?” He asked, and he got even more flustered. 

 

“Can we talk about this later? Maybe on the way back to the dorm?” He asked them, gesturing for them to look back at the ceremony. They clapped especially loudly when their two groupmates were called to the stage to receive their diplomas. Changmin and Jacob finally hit him with that one question he had trouble with for a while, ever since they found themselves kissing a lot, and spending more time together. 

 

Once the ceremony was over, they called Hyunjoon and Sunwoo over to take photos and hand them bouquets of flowers. The mood between all of them was slightly somber but a happy one, as Hyunjoon was dealing with a loss. They were about to leave when Hyunjae stopped upon hearing a very familiar voice. 

 

“Congratulations, little brother!!” 

 

The six of them turned around, and to their surprise, they saw Juhyun standing with another graduate, congratulating and hugging him while taking pictures. The rest of them stared at Hyunjae, who felt his heart skip a beat at the sight of her. He was hoping she was around, and as if the universe heard his wish, she was there. 

 

Hyunjae could feel some eyes of some students on him, and he figured that they knew. “Who-who’s she hugging?” Changmin asked Hyunjoon and Sunwoo. 

 

The two youngest boys peeked over, trying to make out who it was that she was with. “Sangmin?!” They exchanged looks and looked back at them. 

 

The boy with the name suddenly looked at their direction, making Juhyun look the same. She also froze in her place. She couldn’t hide her surprise upon seeing them, especially Hyunjae. Hyunjoon and Sunwoo waved casually, staying poised at the sudden revelation that their classmate was related to her. Sangmin waved back, making Juhyun do the same. “Are the three of you friends?” She turned to her brother in surprise. 

 

“We’re not particularly close, but I do know them,” Her brother replied. “Isn’t that your boyfriend? Oh, they’re in the same group,” He gestured to Hyunjae, and Juhyun turned pink. “Shouldn’t you go up to him?” He asked, and she got even more flustered, nudging him. 

 

“Ya, it’s your graduation, not a means for me to meet up with him. If you’re friends with them, go say hi to them” She said to him, and he laughed. 

 

“Bold of you to assume I’m not bringing you over there. You two didn’t get into a fight, did you?” He asked, his smug expression changing into that of concern. 

 

Juhyun gave him a look and ruffled his hair. “Ya, don’t try and turn the tables on me. No we didn’t get into a fight” she said. 

 

“Then what’s wrong? Come on, I’ll go say hi to them, and you can come with me” He said, pulling her along. 

 

“This is surprising” Juhyun laughed, waving at the boys again and they waved back. “Congratulations on your graduation, it’s a small world” She said to Hyunjoon and Sunwoo, who just smiled. 

 

“How do you all know each other?” Jacob asked the three curiously, attempting to minimize the awkwardness of the situation. 

 

“I’m in the same class as him” Hyunjoon gestured to Sangmin, who just bowed in acknowledgment. “But Sunwoo knows him from playing soccer.” 

 

“Oh, you’re in the soccer team?” Changmin was impressed. 

 

“Yes, I’m a striker” Sangmin nodded, while Juhyun beamed with pride, and she caught Hyunjae’s eye again. He turned to his sister. “Where’s mom? Where’s dad?” He asked. 

 

“They’re waiting for you out there, go back to them, I have to go, I’ve got a schedule” She replied, pausing to take another selca with her brother. 

 

Changmin and Jacob suddenly nudged Hyunjae, urging him to say something. Hyunjoon and Sunwoo were eyeing him too. “I-it was nice seeing you” He said, and knowing that they were in public, he held her hand for a moment before letting go. “It was nice meeting you too” He said to her brother. 

 

Holding his hand felt like something she long needed but never thought she’d get, and it somehow eased any anxiety she was felt. Juhyun had the urge to keep holding on, but she knew they needed to seem casual. “It’s a very small world” She commented, and they chuckled, quietly waving to them before leaving through another exit. 

 

~ 

 

With the exception of Hyunjoon, who went back to his family, the rest of them were on their way back to the dorm. Hyunjae looked down at his hand, the one he used to hold Juhyun’s. He was still so confused and unsure of how to deal with his own feelings. “Hyung, do you like Juhyun noona for real?” He heard Sunwoo ask, and he got flustered again. 

 

“How are you all asking the same question?” He looked so taken aback, while the rest of them laughed. 

 

“Should I recall all the points I made earlier?” Changmin grinned. They were enjoying getting this kind of reaction from him. 

 

“You probably should” Chanhee said, making them howl with laughter and Hyunjae turn red. 

 

Sunwoo seemed ready to answer the question. “You talk about her a lot whenever we’re done practicing and recording” 

 

“You were looking for her earlier, before we knew that she’d be attending after all” Changmin added. Sunwoo looked surprised, but his expression turned smug afterwards. 

 

“You’re asking and letting the rest of us pick out your date clothes when you really just wear what you want regardless” Chanhee said. 

 

“And you actually know what kind of skincare you use when you usually just ask your mom to buy it for you” Jacob pointed out. “What’s she done to you?” He raised a brow. 

 

Hyunjae couldn’t answer and instead shrugged. He didn’t know if he wanted to tell them what he told Kun and Sicheng. He’d never hear the end of it if they knew. “You know, I think I know what she’s done to him” Changmin teased. “Turned him into a person who’s in love.” 

 

“Ya” He blurted out, and they laughed. “It’s not it, it’s complicated, and we haven’t seen each other in a while.” 

 

“You two didn’t fight, did you?” Jacob asked. 

 

“Of course not, we didn’t fight, we’ve never fought,” He shook his head quickly at the question. “This is all just an arrangement, we don’t have a reason to fight unless we’re really dating, which we aren’t” He explained, and he felt a little pang when he said the latter. 

 

Jacob just reached over to pat his shoulder. “But it’s a good thing that both of you are getting along even with this kind of arrangement. At least you two aren’t trying to go at each other’s throats or bicker. I imagine that it’s going to be a headache trying to keep this whole thing up.” 

 

“Don’t the people who bicker in dramas a lot get the most romantic storylines or something?” Chanhee asked them. 

 

“It gets romantic when they suddenly stop bickering and randomly show affection” Changmin pointed out, and they were grinning at Hyunjae. 

 

“What? I’m not going to pick fights with Juhyun just because it’ll be more romantic” He remarked. 

 

The four other boys exchanged looks. “So, back to the main question, do you like Juhyun noona for real?” They asked him. 

 

Hyunjae stared at them. “I… don’t know. I’m asking myself that too.” 

 

The laughter died down and they just smiled. “When you do know, what are you going to do?” Jacob asked. 

 

“I don’t know either. That will also depend on whether or not she likes me too.” and the four boys nodded in understanding, and after a moment, they gaped at him. 

 

“..too?” Changmin asked quietly, and Hyunjae also gaped at this realization. 

 

~ 

 

Juhyun read through her lines again backstage while getting dressed for the day’s show. Her family would be attending this one again, and they promised her they’ll be following. Her fans brought her another set of lunchboxes to eat and she ate while reading through her script. 

 

There was a knock on the door. “It’s open” she called out, and she looked up to see Hyungsik peeking inside, his eyes closed. 

 

“Are you wearing clothes?” He asked. 

 

She laughed at how he looked. “I am, otherwise I wouldn’t be letting you inside” She teased, and he opened his eyes. “Are you ready for today’s show?” She asked. 

 

“As ready as I’ll ever be” He replied, going inside and keeping the door open. “Having trouble remembering what you’re going to say now?” He teased. 

 

“Oh, I’m just reviewing. I didn’t quite forget, but I’m just refreshing myself with what to say” She explained. “So, what’s up?” 

 

“I’m sure you’ve heard? Or at least know? I’m enlisting this year?” He asked. 

 

Juhyun just smiled. “Yeah, it’s time to further serve your country, when do you think you’ll be off?” She asked. 

 

“In a few months, maybe. I’m also filming a movie so I have to go back and forth” He said, sitting down next to her. 

 

She moved a little to make room for him on the couch. “It must be tiring if you’re doing all that around the same time” She said while reading. 

 

“I’ve done this for years, I think I can handle it” He chuckled, glancing at her. “Are you-are you really dating that Hyunjae guy?” He asked, his voice low. 

 

The question made her pause and look over at him. “Huh?” she asked, looking confused. Did he find out about their real relationship? What did he plan on doing? 

 

Hyungsik leaned closer. “Some people are saying that your relationship isn’t as…” He paused, wondering if he could say it. “Real as it seems.” 

 

Juhyun felt a big pang of worry come over her. “What do they mean by that?” She said, trying to stay cool about it. 

 

He shrugged. “I was reading something I shouldn’t have on the internet, about the possible theory that your relationship was just to cover up something else.” 

 

“Like what? What kind of theory?” Juhyun was surprised, but she figured that it was to be expected. 

 

“I don’t know, like no one’s seen your groups promote around the same time, so there wouldn’t be a way for you two to get introduced to each other, and if you do have mutual friends, it’s unlikely that they’d have time to set you two up…” He explained. 

 

She let out a nervous chuckle. “Is that what they really say? And you actually believe those things? There are people who don’t like me, I get it, they just want to try and ruin me online” She assured him, but she sensed that he didn’t feel relieved about it. “...Are you sad they’re trying to do this?” She raised a brow. 

 

Hyungsik smiled a small smile and shook his head. “No, not really. I’d be sad if they tried to do it.” 

 

Juhyun nodded in understanding. “You shouldn’t be sad for me. Don’t worry about me. I’ve been around here as long as you have, I think I know what to believe and what to ignore” she said. “All I know is, what Hyunjae and I have is real. As real as can be.” 

 

Hopefully, she thought. Everything was starting to become clear, but she wasn’t ready to think about it some more yet. As far as everything went, this was mainly an arrangement, a cover up in which Hyungsik guessed right. They were covering up for their own groupmates, who were going to be in hot water if the news outlets got wind of what they were covering up. 

 

But now that Subin and her boyfriend had broken up, would that arrangement still hold true? 

 

The production assistant suddenly peeked inside. “Ten minutes” they said before fleeing. 

 

The two of them got up, and Juhyun turned around to check her hair and makeup in the mirror, trying to see if everything remained intact. Hyungsik did the same. “Did we talk for a long time? The place filled up fast” He commented with a laugh. 

 

Juhyun laughed as well. “It seems like it. Time flies when you’re caught up in a conversation” She shrugged, grabbing the last of her costume for the opening and looking through her script one more time. 

 

He smiled at her. “It seems so. Let’s go” and he led them out of the dressing room, Juhyun closing the door behind her. 


	9. Chapter 9

Hyunjae, Jacob, Chanhee, Changmin, and Sunwoo arrived back at the dorm. The mood went a little lighter especially from the conversation they had earlier. Hyunjae took his shoes off and collapsed on the couch, the rest of them scattering to their rooms to get dressed and freshen up. He was wondering what to do. He could always sleep the rest of the day away as he usually would if he didn’t have anything else to do, he could catch up on his gaming, but he didn’t feel like playing yet, or he could try and see what she was up to. 

 

“Are you thinking of telling her how you feel?” Changmin suddenly came out of his room and sat down on the floor to turn on the tv. 

 

“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll swallow my feelings and keep away from her forever” Hyunjae replied, sarcasm evident in his voice. 

 

The younger boy frowned. “Well, you can do that, or you can keep holding on” He said. 

 

“How? I’ve already gotten our group in hot water because I’m dating Juhyun, to keep going would just…” Hyunjae shrugged and got up. “I’ll sleep it off. Don’t wake me up until dinner” He advised. 

 

He closed the door behind him and slumped down on his bed. “I’ve got other things to think about, apart from Juhyun and this whole arranged relationship thing. I don’t know why I had to agree to this, this isn’t so..” He sighed and closed his eyes to try and sleep. 

 

Back in the living room, Sunwoo, Chanhee, and Jacob stared at the door of Hyunjae and Haknyeon’s room. “You think we can do anything to help?” Changmin asked them. 

 

“What’s he thinking of doing now that he’s realized it?” Sunwoo asked. 

 

“I asked him about it earlier and he said he might consider just keeping his feelings for her back and keep away from her once the people call off the arrangement” Changmin explained. 

 

“Nothing’s really changed much in his personality, if you think about it,” Jacob said. “He’s still that guy we all know, and he focuses on schedules when it’s needed, he only talks about her when we’re done doing what we have to do” He shrugged. 

 

They hummed in agreement. “He isn’t like one of those annoying guys who just thinks about her all day and all night, we even have to help him, right?” Chanhee said. 

 

“That’s true too. Maybe the reason he’s reacting like that is because,” Sunwoo tried to think. “Is because he’s never felt this way about someone before? I mean, he made fun of Juyeon hyung when he kept watching that romance movie on the day they met, right?” He recalled, and they nodded. 

 

“Yeah, Serendipity. He met her through an accident indeed” Jacob agreed. “He’s overwhelmed, so he’s getting scared” He looked back at the door. 

 

“So what can we do?” Changmin asked. “He even said that this was the reason why our group’s gotten a lot of negative attention” 

 

“Attention is attention, and this isn’t negative at all” Jacob insisted, shaking his head. “If he kept holding onto her, provided that she feels the same way, then wouldn’t that be a lot better?” 

 

They nodded in understanding. “I’m sure noona feels the same way about him, why wouldn’t she?” Changmin assured them. He heard his phone buzz and he crawled towards his room to get it. “Taeyongie hyung’s only available today, and he’s wondering if anyone’s available to hang out before they leave for Japan again” He read the message. 

 

“You two are closer, you should probably go while we’re not doing anything either” Jacob advised. 

 

“Yeah, Jungwoo’s coming!” Changmin beamed and dashed back inside. 

 

~ 

 

Juhyun returned to her dressing room after the curtain call. She was going to be at the theater the whole day until the last performance of the night. Knowing that she still had some time, she lay down, not bothering to take off her makeup and closed her eyes to try and sleep. She couldn’t. 

 

She picked up her phone from the coffee table and looked through her camera roll. She noticed her photos lately were mostly of her, of Hyunjae, of her and Hyunjae. She still felt so confused. She liked spending time with Hyunjae, and she didn’t want to admit that she liked the kisses they ended up having, accidental or on purpose. 

 

Juhyun looked through their conversations together, chuckling at some of the funny things they said to each other. She sat up when her phone showed her a notification all of a sudden. It was a text from Hyunjae. 

 

_ Hyunjae: Are you at your musical all day? _

 

She smiled, and eagerly typed a reply. 

 

_ Juhyun: Yeah. My family’s coming to tonight’s show, as a graduation celebration for my brother.   _

 

_ Hyunjae: That’s nice _

 

_ Juhyun: Are you thinking of coming?  _

 

_ Hyunjae: Maybe, I don’t have anyone to go watch your musical with.  _

 

_ Juhyun: What about Jaehyun? I think they’re not doing anything today. They’ll be busy soon.  _

 

_ Hyunjae: Good idea, I’ll bring the guy that brought us together, haha _

 

Juhyun chuckled. The idea of the three of them all meeting each other seemed funny, mostly because they were very similar to each other. There was a knock on the door and she sat up as it opened, and Hyungsik appeared, grinning and holding a lunchbox that had a sticker of his face on the cover. “I’m going to the movie set now, and the food the fans brought for me just came in, so I came by to give you one” he said. 

 

She got up and took the lunchbox. “Thank you, tell them thanks for me” She smiled. 

 

“I hate that I can’t be the one performing tonight” He frowned slightly. “I would’ve wanted to meet your family.” 

 

She raised a brow and chuckled. “I’ll tell them to come again when it’s your show, alright?” She suggested, and he smiled. 

 

“Don’t forget about the cast party. It’s in two weeks after the last performance” He reminded her. 

 

“Ah, I’m still a little undecided,” Juhyun said. “You can never really tell what can happen by then, especially with me” She added. 

 

“Still, if you can make it, come” Hyungsik waved at her, and closed the door. 

 

Their conversation further made things clear. “Oh my god, the girls were right” She gaped at the realization, and slowly sat back down. Juhyun picked up her phone again and looked through their conversation. 

 

~ 

 

That night, Hyunjae sat in front of the tv in the living room, slurping up some noodles he ordered. Younghoon had arrived, and had to be confined in his room after finding out that he was feeling under the weather. The program soon shifted to a rerun of “Strong Woman Do Bong Soon” and he can’t help but frown. 

 

“What does Hyungsik have that I don’t?” He suddenly muttered, making Jacob and Haknyeon, who had just arrived, stare at him. “He’s Juhyun’s co-star in the musical, and his character here is the guy she likes” He added to explain. 

 

Haknyeon tried to stifle a laugh, while Jacob shook his head in disbelief. “Don’t you mean Ahn Minhyuk? Not necessarily Hyungsik sunbae?” The younger pointed out. 

 

“Him too” Hyunjae said, and they chuckled. “What do they have that makes Juhyun like them so much?” 

 

“I don’t understand, are you trying to figure out her type? Or are you jealous over two people, one of which doesn’t even exist but is actually just one person?” Jacob looked confused, but was amused at the thoughts. 

 

“I’m just trying to figure it out” Hyunjae replied. “...And maybe I’m a little jealous…” He muttered under his breath, and they laughed. “She even called him Min-Min in her sns posts... “ 

 

“Did it occur to you that Min-Min is the nickname of his character in the drama?” Haknyeon nudged him. “What would she call you anyway? What do you want her to call you?” 

 

“I don’t know, we never really call each other special nicknames” He replied, wiping his mouth with a wet tissue. “I mean, you watched her musical with me, you saw the way he looked at Juhyun, and she even told me that the noonadeul keep telling her that he likes her, he likes her!” His voice raised slightly, and he quieted down. 

 

“He knows you two are together, I mean, that’s all everyone else knows,” Haknyeon assured him. “I don’t think he’s the type to come between a couple? That would be wrong” He added. 

 

“Yeah, what he said,” Jacob agreed. “As far as everyone else knows, she’s already taken by you.” 

 

“Exactly. And they’re acting, he’s supposed to look like he’s interested whenever she comes to him” Haknyeon pointed out. “Why would you compare yourself to sunbae and to Ahn Minhyuk?” 

 

“But really, what do they have that I don’t? Or what do they have that’s so appealing?” Hyunjae insisted. 

 

Jacob and Haknyeon exchanged looks. “You want us to answer that question? I mean, I know it doesn’t really matter but sunbae and Juhyun noona are the same age…” Jacob said softly. “And they debuted a year apart…” 

 

“Similar experiences, same age,” Haknyeon agreed. “But that’s not really important, is it?” and Jacob shook his head. “You don’t need to have a lot of things in common, maybe just some” He pointed out. 

 

“But what’s important is that everyone knows that she’s yours and you’re hers” Jacob said. “That’s all you should know. I don’t think noona would go off and flirt with other men while this arrangement is going on.”

 

They were right, that was all Hyunjae needed to know. He looked up at the clock, and remembered what he told her. “Haknyeon, get dressed.” He muttered. 

 

“Why?” He said. 

 

“We can catch the matinee show in 20 minutes” He said, getting up from the floor. 

 

“I’ve already seen the show!” Haknyeon whined, and Jacob patted him on the shoulder. 

 

“I’ll go with you” Jacob got up and rushed to his room. He suddenly peeked out. “Do we have tickets?” He asked. 

 

“I do, let’s go!” Hyunjae grabbed his phone and went to his room. “Jaehyun’s coming with us too” He added. 

 

“Jaehyun?” Jacob called out. “Ah, yeah, Jaehyun. Younghoon’s going to be so jealous” he laughed, glancing at the door of their groupmate’s room. 

 

“He’s sick anyway,” Hyunjae pulled on the jacket Hyunjoon picked out for him on a previous date and looked in the mirror to fix his hair, keeping it the way Juhyun liked it. He heard the phone ring, and the voice of the NCT member came on the other line. “Jung Jaehyun! No time to talk, watch Moulin Rouge with us tonight! Get dressed!” He nearly yelled in a hurry. 

 

“Okay! I know the place, I’ll meet you there!” Jaehyun replied and hung up. 

 

~ 

 

Crowds of people were filling in the theater, and Juhyun peeked out from behind the curtains, being careful not to mess up her hair and retouched makeup. She couldn’t spot anyone she knew coming in, not even Hyunjae, and she figured idols usually had a different air around them wherever they went despite trying to blend in with the crowd. 

 

She thought about what she realized earlier. Hyungsik, of all people, her co-star, actually liked her, or at least was interested in her. She was still trying to wrap her head around it, even going back to what Hyunae said to her the other day. She was a catch, and that every guy wanted to be Hyunjae because he was dating her, or at least every guy thought they were. 

 

She walked back to her dressing room and sat down on the couch, doing some vocal exercises and going over her lines again, trying to get her mind off of the realization. She heard a knock on the door, and she sat up. “It’s open” 

 

The door opened and to her surprise, Hyungsik peeked in, and she immediately noticed that he was already made up and in costume. “Surprise, they had to call me in, apparently Seungwoo was sick, and coincidentally, I just finished filming when they called” He beamed. 

 

She felt her heart skip a beat in surprise at the sight of him. “So it seems, at least you’re here and ready to go again” Juhyun stood up and put her script down. “How did filming go?”

 

“It went well, did a few scenes, a kiss scene was one of them” He replied, and Juhyun chuckled. “I guess you stayed here in this room the whole day?” 

 

She nodded. “I didn’t feel like dressing down and then dressing up again, and I had nothing to do anyway, so it’s okay, I’ve been trying to keep myself busy” She pointed to her tablet that was on the coffee table. 

 

Hyungsik smiled. “Oh yeah, your family’s here, right?” He asked. 

 

“Yeah, I tried looking for them from the stage and I couldn’t find them. Hyunjae might be coming to watch again too, with another friend of ours” She replied. 

 

“I’m going to take a wild guess that would be Jaehyun of NCT, right?” He asked with a grin. 

 

“Bingo” She nodded. “...Wait, how did you know it was going to be him?” She raised a brow. 

 

He chuckled. “I read the Dispatch article, you two met through a mutual friend, and since you mentioned that he was coming with a friend of yours, I kind of assumed it would be him” He explained with a shrug. 

 

“Oh, well, good guess” She said, looking back at the mirror to check her makeup. 

 

“Hyunjae’s a lucky guy” He suddenly said, watching her. 

 

Juhyun stopped and looked over at him. “Oh? How would you know he’s lucky?” She joked. “He might be suffering, you know” She added with a laugh. 

 

He shook his head. “Nope, he’s a lucky guy. He’s got you.” 

 

“If you keep saying that, I’ll have to assume you like me” Juhyun said, feeling her heart pound at what she said. It was her way of trying to find out if he really liked her or not without it seeming weird. 

 

“What if I do? Is he going to get jealous?” He replied, his expression softening at his own question. 

 

Juhyun cleared her throat and turned back to him. “Whoever you end up with is going to be just as lucky,” She said, patting him on the shoulders. “They’ve got the guy playing Min-Min as their boyfriend.” 

 

Hyungsik laughed. “Maybe, maybe not.” 

 

“Five minutes, company call” They heard the production assistant say, and Juhyun put her hands down. 

 

“Time to go” She said, and Hyungsik led her out of the dressing room. 

 

~ 

 

Hyunjae, Jaehyun, and Jacob passed through the halls that led to the backstage when the show was over. “That was amazing! The lights, the colors, and the dancing!” Jaehyun and Jacob said as they followed Hyunjae. “I need to take the other guys to see this” He added. 

 

“Yeah! I’m so glad I came with you instead of Haknyeon” Jacob agreed, patting his groupmate on the shoulder. “You really need to not be this tense, you’ve been like that since the show started.” 

 

“I’m not tense” Hyunjae pointed out with a frown, making Jaehyun eye him suspiciously. “It’s just- Hyungsik sunbae and Juhyun” He muttered. 

 

Jaehyun looked puzzled. “They were acting, Hyunjae. It’s not real, it’s just on the stage, don’t be so jealous” He said. 

 

Jacob glanced at Hyunjae. “I think you should tell him what’s going on, and why you’re really acting like this” He advised. “Besides, you mentioned Jaehyun as the mutual friend anyway.” 

 

“Wait, what’s going on?” The NCT member asked, and Hyunjae whispered everything in his ear. Jaehyun’s eyes widened and he stared at his friend. “Oh, that’s what’s going on… and then I wondered why Juhyun noona never mentioned you two dating… good to know though, your secret is safe” He assured him. 

 

As they approached the costumed crowd, they skidded to a halt when they saw Juhyun with her family, and to Hyunjae’s surprise, Hyungsik, whom her mother was hugging and praising. 

 

“Be cool” Jaehyun said to him. “Don’t get all jealous boyfriend on her” He muttered. 

 

“Easy” Jacob patted Hyunjae on the back. 

 

~ 

 

Juhyun and Hyungsik smiled at all the praise the people passing by were telling them. “Look at both of you, getting noticed for your chemistry more than him and the leading lady he’s actually with” Juhyun’s mother told them. 

 

She shook her head and waved a hand dismissively. “No, no, Hyungsik’s just here, that’s why we’re suddenly getting noticed, if he wasn’t, they’d ignore me.” 

 

“This isn’t your first musical, Juhyun, you should know you earned it” Her father then said. 

 

“Yeah, noona, you earned the recognition” Sangmin suddenly said. 

 

“Both of you do look good together, you were just too late” Juhyun’s mother pointed out. 

 

“Mom,” She gave her a look. “Hyunjae’s a great guy.” 

 

“He’s a little young, isn’t he?” Her mother said. 

 

Juhyun glanced at Hyungsik, who excused himself. She had half-expected they’d put her in an awkward position, telling her what they thought of her relationship while they were out in public. “I know he is, but I just like him” She said. 

 

“Has he attended any of your musicals?” Her father asked. 

 

“Of course he has. He’s attended one even before this one, and he watched now” She explained. She looked around and spotted him, with Jacob and Jaehyun several feet away. A feeling of relief came over her when she saw Hyunjae standing there with a smile on his face. Juhyun smiled and waved at them to come over. “Speaking of which, he’s here, Hyunjae!” 

 

Hyunjae froze in his place, but Jaehyun and Jacob nudged him to keep walking. As soon as he arrived, he did a very low bow to her parents and to her little brother. “Hello, I’m Hyunjae, or Lee Jaehyun, whichever one is better for you to call me” He said, sounding as formal as possible. 

 

“Ah, here he is,” Her father said with a smile, shaking his hand. “It’s nice to finally meet the guy Juhyun is now dating.” 

 

He did a low bow after shaking his hand. Her mother on the other hand, he could tell looked slightly unimpressed, as if she preferred Hyungsik so much more. “It’s nice to finally meet you too, Jaehyun. Sangmin told me you were also at the graduation.” 

 

“Yes, I was. I used to study there, and two of my groupmates are from there and graduated too” He replied with a nod. 

 

“Yeah, I was just as surprised when I saw some of them there, and even more surprised when I found out they actually know each other” Juhyun added. 

 

Her mother remained unfazed, and instead turned her attention to her daughter. “Can we have a word in your dressing room?” She asked. 

 

Juhyun could sense where this was going. She followed her mother to her waiting room and closed the door, leaving Hyunjae with Sangmin and her father. He wondered what they were going to talk about. He didn’t want to assume what their conversation was about even if he had an idea. 

 

~ 

 

“Are you really serious about Jaehyun?” Her mother suddenly asked. 

 

“Yes I am. We’ve been dating for a few months now,” Juhyun explained. She couldn’t tell them that this was all an arrangement. Knowing them, the word would get out. “You gave him the cold shoulder a moment ago.”

“Did I?” 

 

“Yes!” Juhyun said. 

 

“Juhyun, I’m just being wary, especially after-” 

 

“Especially after what?” Juhyun snapped. “Don’t say that you’re worried about me. Don’t worry, because we don’t see each other everyday, just every week, and I’ve taken a lot of the backlash when the news came out, okay?” 

 

“You had coffee thrown at you, Juhyun, all because you’re dating him. And he’s a rookie! New in the industry! I’m sorry but what if he’s just with you to become more popular?” Her mother asked. 

 

Juhyun stared at her. “You don’t know Hyunjae like I do. You certainly don’t know him at all, he’s with me because he likes me and that’s it, nothing else to it,” She explained. “He pays for our dates for one, he picked me up for our 100 days is another, he’s just as capable as the guys that came before.” 

 

“And what about his groupmates? Are they okay with both of you dating? You’ve told me a lot of times before, a relationship tends to affect the entire group. How is it affecting his group?” She asked. 

 

“His groupmates are okay with it,” At least she thought they were despite knowing it was only an arrangement. “I assure you, mom. They’re fine with me and Hyunjae dating. He doesn’t let this get in the way of his work, I don’t let it get in the way of mine.” 

 

Her mother’s face softened. “I just want to make sure that you won’t take the biggest hit because of this. It’s a lot harder for female idols than it is for the guys, you of all people should know that.” 

 

“I do know it. Hyunjae knows it, and we never even fight about the lack of time we spend together whenever we get busy” Juhyun explained. They never even fought at all. “Don’t worry about me, I can handle this, in fact, I’d rather be the one handling this than letting him suffer” She finished. 

 

“Juhyun, I know you’re nice but you shouldn’t be that nice” Her mother said. 

 

“Why shouldn’t I be? I’m the more experienced one, I’m the one who’s been in this industry longer, the least I could do is make it easier for him because he’s currently new, and this is an important time for him” She insisted. 

 

“Then why did you two date at all if you knew that Hyunjae’s career came first before your relationship?” Her mother asked. 

 

Juhyun couldn’t say anything. As much as she wanted to tell her the truth of how things really are between her and Hyunjae, she knew she couldn’t. They hardly even told anyone close to them anymore. 

 

“If you ask me, you could’ve dated Hyungsik instead.” 

 

“Mom.” 

 

~ 

 

The door opened again, and Hyunjae felt relieved when he saw her step out, followed by her mother. The two of them still looked so tense, and he could tell that they had some argument. He saw Juhyun flash a small smile and greet Jaehyun and Jacob, who were standing by, introducing them to her mother. “Well, I think we should go home now, we’re so proud of you, Juhyun” Her father said, and she bid all of them goodbye after posing for some photos. 

 

As they were out of earshot, she turned to the three boys. “What about you guys? Going home?” She asked. “Jaehyun, you’re going to Japan tomorrow, right?” 

 

“Yes noona, but I wanted to come see you here first before I do” He smiled. “I kind of feel bad we came here empty-handed without flowers or something.” 

 

Juhyun waved her hand dismissively. “No need, the ones I got a few shows before are already wilting in my apartment. I don’t need any more flowers in my home. I’m glad you guys enjoyed the show” she said with a smile. 

 

“How are you going home?” Hyunjae suddenly asked her. 

 

“I’ve got my car. Chunhee oppa can’t pick me up today so I’m taking myself home tonight” She replied. “Are you guys getting picked up?” 

 

“We took a taxi to come here” Jacob said. 

 

“Manager hyung took me here” Jaehyun replied. “Let’s take a photo!” He got out his phone, and the four of them posed for a selca. Jacob did the same next, and so did Hyunjae, and after Juhyun partially dressed to leave, she also had them pose for a few photos. 

 

Jaehyun bid them goodbye and asked if they could do this again as his manager had arrived to pick him up, leaving her with Jacob and Hyunjae. “I can probably take you guys home instead” She suggested. “I’ll finish getting ready to leave and you guys can give me the directions to your dorm.” 

 

“Are you sure? Do you have schedules tomorrow?” Jacob asked. 

 

“Just this, but I won’t be here until the matinee performance” She replied. “I’ve got time to kill. So, let me give you guys a ride? Or will you two be okay with a cab?” 

 

Jacob and Hyunjae turned to each other. Hyunjae was slightly torn. As much as he wanted to spend time with her, he didn’t want his groupmate to feel like a third wheel. “We’ll be fine with a cab,” He suddenly said. 

 

She nodded in understanding. She also didn’t want Jacob to feel like a third wheel if she were to take them home and they’d end up talking about things only they knew. “Alright then, thanks for coming to see me lift up my skirt, again” She chuckled. 

 

“I really loved the musical! I think I’ll come again, and if we’ve got time, maybe the other members can come watch too” Jacob smiled. 

 

Juhyun nodded. “I should probably get back to getting dressed, you two don’t need to wait for me to finish” she said, and wrapped her arms around Hyunjae in a tight embrace, as if hoping it would make her feel better after what her mother told her. It did, and it made her realize how much she missed him, and that she didn’t want to let go. 

 

Hyunjae seemed to have picked up on it too. He sensed she wasn’t feeling too good after that talk with her mother. Her father seemed to like him, and so did Sangmin, but it was her mother that he was a little wary of. It made him think of his own parents, who were also just as wary at first, but decided to be supportive instead. As long as it didn’t interfere with his blossoming career. On instinct, his arms were around her waist and as if it was the only other thing he thought of doing, he kissed the side of her head. 

 

She felt her heart flutter, and it made her hold on tighter. She didn’t care if they were in public, she didn’t care if people saw this moment between them, and for a moment, she didn’t care that this was only an arrangement. Juhyun wanted comfort, and Hyunjae was giving her that, whether he knew it or not, but she knew that he knew. She wanted to hold on even if it seemed unlikely. 

 

Juhyun slowly pulled away and smiled. “Sorry the hug was long,” she glanced at Jacob, who shook his head. “Be safe, both of you, tell me when you’ve arrived” She said, and waved at them before going in her dressing room. 

 

She didn’t think she’d feel this bad, but she did. She sat down in front of the mirror and removed her makeup, trying not to think about their conversation earlier. All Juhyun wanted now was to keep hugging Hyunjae. 

 

~ 

 

Later that night, Hyunjae and Jacob arrived back at the dorms. Most of their groupmates were now back and some of them were unpacking and moving in and out of their rooms while they did it. “Oh, how was the musical? It was nice, wasn’t it?” Haknyeon spotted them, while he was playing a game. 

 

“Yeah, it was great! I really loved it!” Jacob smiled, and patted the younger boy’s shoulder before heading into his room. “Let Juhyun noona know we’re back” He called out before closing the door. 

 

Hyunjae slumped down on the couch, watching Haknyeon play. He took out his phone and sent her a message. 

 

_ Hyunjae: We’re home. Are you okay? _

 

He didn’t expect her to reply. She was probably still on her way home, he thought. “So, what happened with you?” Haknyeon asked, focused on the game. 

 

“I met her parents” Hyunjae replied. “Her brother was also there, and so was Hyungsik, who was meeting them too, I mean I saw him with her when they were entertaining her parents,” He explained. “I didn’t get jealous, if that’s what you’re thinking. At least towards the end…” He muttered. 

 

“Towards the end?” The younger boy asked, looking at him over his shoulder. 

 

“Yeah,” Hyunjae kept thinking about the hug, and how she felt. “I think her mom doesn’t like me.”

 

“How so?” He asked, his expression turning into that of concern. He got up when he finished playing and sat down next to the older boy. “Is it because of the age gap?” 

 

“Maybe, and even my own parents were a little unsure about us too” He said. 

 

“Maybe she didn’t tell them this thing was just an arrangement” Haknyeon shrugged. 

 

Hyunjae shook his head. “Maybe, but whatever happened, Juhyun might not have taken it well. She’s surprisingly transparent, but even if she wasn’t, I kind of know how she’s feeling..” He muttered, glancing down at his phone. Still no reply from her. 

 

Haknyeon looked at the older boy appreciatively. “I know this is only an arrangement, but I personally think it’s nice that you and Juhyun noona are leaning on each other since the beginning.” 

 

It made him look up at the younger. “I think it’s nice too, and now I’m a little worried about her, about how she was feeling before we left. Should I call her?” He asked. 

 

“It’s worth a try” Haknyeon nodded, and he pressed the call button on her number. 

 

It was ringing once, twice, three times. “I’ll be in the room, just come in later” Hyunjae got up and padded towards their room, staring at his phone in case she answered. It was still ringing when he closed the door. 

 

The more it rang, the more worried he was getting. Juhyun usually picked up her phone whenever there was a call, but this time she wasn’t. Could something have happened to her? What if she got hurt again? His mind was reeling with the possible scenarios. Hyunjae hung up and tried to send her a few messages. 

 

_ Hyunjae: Juhyun, are you okay? You haven’t answered my call.  _

 

_ Hyunjae: Please pick up your phone. _

 

_ Hyunjae: Juhyun, pick up your phone, I’m getting worried  _

 

He kept sending her the same messages, in the hopes she’d at least get around to replying to one of them. He tried to call her again, and it was ringing a few times, until he heard her pick up the phone. “Hello?” She sounded a little stuffy. 

 

“J-Juhyun?” Hyunjae asked, feeling incredibly relieved. “Are you okay? I tried calling you but you weren’t answering” He said. 

 

“I am, I’m just fine, I just arrived home,” She replied, followed by a sniffle. Her voice sounded shaky, and Hyunjae had a feeling he knew why. “I just saw your message, good” she added. 

 

“Were you crying?” He asked carefully. 

 

There was a moment of silence. “...How did you know?” She asked. 

 

“You sound very different, and I know it’s not because you caught a cold” He explained. “If you want to talk about it, I’m all ears” he said softly. 

 

“I’ll be fine, Hyunjae. Just focus on what you’re doing with your group,” She assured him, but her voice sounded especially shaky, and more sniffles followed. “I’ll be just fine.” 

 

“If you’re sure. If you aren’t, I’ll be able to tell and you can bet that I’ll show up there and give you another hug” He said, trying to lighten the mood. 

 

She chuckled. “A hug from you would be nice, but you need to get some sleep” She said. 

 

Hyunjae smiled a little. “I’m not going to sleep if you’re not.” 

 

“Ya, stop it” She said. “Worry about yourself.” 

 

“No matter how many times you tell me that, I won’t stop.” 

 

“Why?” 

 

Hyunjae took a deep breath. “Because I care about my girlfriend, because I always want to make sure you’re happy.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second to the last chapter is here~~~~ The next chapter will be the last.

_ Yeosin Juhyun and The Boyz Hyunjae Hugging Goes Viral _

 

_ Recently, a post has been circulating around Naver and Pann about the couple being caught in a warm moment backstage at a musical. It seems that The Boyz member, along with his fellow groupmate Jacob, went backstage to visit his girlfriend after her musical, Moulin Rouge, which is currently on it’s last two weeks. The original poster of the photo said that it seemed like she was bidding them goodbye, but not before the two of them hugged each other.  _

 

_ Netizens who saw the post were mostly moved by this warm moment between the two idols. Juhyun and Hyunjae were previously revealed by Dispatch to have been dating for several months already. This news coincides with a previous moment between the two that went viral, where the Yeosin member suffered a concussion during ISAC filming after being hit by a soccer ball and rookie idol helping her by coming with her and her manager to take her to the hospital.  _

 

Jiwon and Hyunae gaped as they read the article, seeing the photo that came with it. They were on their way to the practice room when they saw the news, and what people were saying. “Do they really have to keep bringing up the ISAC incident?” Hyunae said with an exasperated sigh as they entered the room, Yuhee and Subin already going over the choreography while Juhyun was busy trying to change the arrangement of some of their songs on the computer. “Unnie,” she called out, putting her bag down. “Did you see?” 

 

“See what?” Juhyun said, not bothering to look over at them. 

 

“Someone apparently took a photo of you and Hyunjae hugging and it went viral” Jiwon replied. 

 

Juhyun turned around to face them. Their two youngest members slowed down, partly to pay attention to their conversation while practicing. “Huh?” She looked confused, and Hyunae went over to show her the article on her phone. Her expression fell slightly the more she read it, mostly because she remembered what her mother had said to her, and how she was acting towards Hyunjae. “Oh.” 

 

“Oh? What happened that called for the hug?” Hyunae asked curiously. 

 

“My parents were there, and it’s safe to say that my mother doesn’t really like Hyunjae” Juhyun replied with a slight frown. 

 

Jiwon and Hyunae frowned as well. “Is it because of the age gap? That really shouldn’t matter though” The second-eldest said with a shrug. 

 

She sighed and shrugged as well. “I couldn’t tell her what this really was, and she was trying to ask me why Hyunjae and I decided to date when I valued his career just as much as he did, you know, all those things. She says she’s just concerned about me taking a big fall in my career because of this.” 

 

“I’m guessing she was concerned of the possibility that Hyunjae’s only dating you to become more popular, huh?” Hyunae asked knowingly. 

 

“Yes, and I told her that she doesn’t know him the way I do, and I kept trying to convince her that he’s a great guy. So he’s a rookie, so he’s younger than me, so…” Juhyun sat back down in front of the computer. “So his group’s been super supportive, so you guys are very supportive… she actually prefers Hyungsik over him, and they look really similar” She added. 

 

“She prefers Hyungsik because you two are pretty much the same, huh?” Jiwon said, and she nodded. “Well, opposites attract, and you and Hyunjae may not have much in common, but you two are supposedly together” She explained. 

 

Juhyun looked over at them. “Supposedly, right. I shouldn’t be annoyed about this, but I am, and I’m annoyed that I feel annoyed over this thing. Hyunjae and I aren’t really dating,” She got up at her realization. “I shouldn’t even care in the first place.” 

 

Yuhee and Subin eyed the two older girls and the four of them exchanged looks. “Unnie,” Yuhee began, trying to be as careful as possible. “You and Hyunjae, do you think, in the long run, when everything’s said and done, do you think you two would be great together for real? No arrangements, nothing?” She asked softly. 

 

The older girl eyed their maknae. “What do you mean?” she asked. 

 

“What she meant was that, would you ever consider actually dating Hyunjae?” Jiwon said. “We can see you really enjoy spending time with him, and the hug we just saw in that photo didn’t look like an ordinary hug either, and you told us that you two have kissed on more than one occasion outside the scheduled meetings” She explained. 

 

“Unnie, are you really falling in love with Hyunjae?” Subin suddenly asked, and Juhyun could notice the warm smiles on the faces of her members. 

 

“I don’t know, but all I know is that I care about him, and whenever he’s around, I just feel so much better about myself,” Juhyun looked back at the monitor. “It’s like I know that everything’s going to be okay whenever I’m with him, and when he’s not there, I miss him. I feel clingy in a way, and you all know that the last thing I want to be is clingy…” She trailed off. “I mean, is that love or something?” 

 

The four girls gave her knowing looks. “I think that might be it, Juhyun” Jiwon said quietly. “It can feel that way when you’re in love with someone, and we’ve already told you how happy we’d all be if you two were really dating.” 

 

“Yeah unnie” Yuhee suddenly added, while Subin wiped her eyes with her sleeve. “Look, you even made Subin cry with what you said about him.” 

 

“We’ve been a group for eight years, unnie,” Hyunae said. “All this time, you’ve always looked out for the rest of us, not just because it’s your job, but because you treat us like your sisters and we all practically are sisters,” She explained. “It’s about time you did something for yourself.” 

 

“We can see how happy Hyunjae makes you. Yes, even if you try not to look it, you still look it,” Subin chimed in. “You’ve already helped us so much, can we at least help you with this? What are you going to do?” 

 

Juhyun shook her head. “This really wasn’t part of the arrangement” she muttered. She was feeling more confused than ever. Was she really falling in love with him? Or was she just getting carried away? 

 

“It never tends to be in this kind of situation” Jiwon shook her head. “It’s almost like you and Hyunjae were meant to meet during that day, you know?” She glanced at the other members, who nodded. 

 

“That day where I got a concussion?” Juhyun said. 

 

“Yes, that day where you unfortunately got a concussion” Jiwon repeated. “But injury aside, I really think you two were meant to meet each other, and when I meet, I mean really meet.” 

 

“But what if Hyunjae just got carried away like how I got carried away?” Juhyun muttered, but it made her remember what the man and the woman kept telling them. They had chemistry. 

 

“It’s impossible for him to just get carried away, not when you two have been getting out of character a lot whenever you see each other outside scheduled meetings” Jiwon pointed out. “I’m sure, I’m 100% sure that he likes you too, and if I’m wrong I’ll treat you guys to an all-you-can-eat buffet” She added, making them laugh. 

 

Juhyun shook her head and went back to work. “Until I figure that out, let’s focus on our concert, shall we?” she glanced up at them, and they scattered. 

 

~ 

 

Along with the weather getting warmer, it also meant comeback season. Hyunjae was back into practicing the choreography for their newest song. Despite being so busy over the weeks, or what felt like a few months, flying in and out to perform, Juhyun was still on his mind. Maybe he could just swallow his feelings and keep away from her forever even if it meant he would be unhappy, but he couldn’t at the moment, not when this whole arrangement is still going on. It was like he was dreading the day where they’d get called in to say that this would all be over. 

 

But he didn’t know if he wanted it to be over or not, all he knew was that he liked her for real, he just couldn’t be near her at the moment because they were both so busy. Hyunjae practiced as hard as he could, trying to get his mind off his dilemma, if it could even be called a dilemma. 

 

The rest of the members noticed how he was as well. “Hyung, you should take a break, you’ve practiced more than how much you usually practice” Changmin said. Hyunjae ignored him and went over the choreography again. 

 

“Hyunjae” Jacob called out this time. “Take a break” He added. He was ignored as well. He eyed the rest of the group, who also looked unsure of what to do. 

 

“Hyunjae,” Sangyeon called him this time, and he stopped. “Take a break.” 

 

He nodded and quietly filled a cup with water to drink. The rest of them exchanged looks. Hyunjoon carefully approached the older boy. “Are you okay?” he asked. 

 

“Yeah, I’m fine” He replied, filling the cup again. 

 

“You sure?” He asked, noticing the way he replied and the way he was behaving. 

 

“Yes, I’m sure. I’m fine,” He said. “That’s all I end up saying lately, that’s all she ends up saying lately when the truth is that she isn’t fine and neither am I…” he blurted out, sitting down in the corner. 

 

“Why aren’t you fine then?” Hyunjoon asked carefully, sitting beside him, while Haknyeon and Sangyeon did the same around him. 

 

“I’m not fine because I don’t know what to do. I’m not fine because I can’t seem to tell Juhyun that I care about her, that I don’t like it when she’s not there, and that whenever we’re together, it doesn’t feel weird or unnatural, it feels normal like we should’ve been doing this from the very beginning without any arrangement” He ranted, staring into space as he said it. “I’m not fine because as much as I want to say that I get jealous when Hyungsik sunbae is around her and that I always want to see her happy, I don’t think I’ve got any right because I’m not her boyfriend even though I want to be” He exhaled. 

 

They stared at him. “It’s about time you figured it out” Haknyeon muttered, and the three of them smiled. 

 

“This “relationship” has been affecting all of you, this is making things complicated” Hyunjae said. 

 

“You’re the only one making things complicated for yourself,” Sangyeon pointed out. “Jaehyun, both of you made everyone else believe that you two are a couple, people have already accepted this fact, even those who couldn’t accept it already think this is a fact. It’s not doing anything to the rest of us. If you two were to date for real, it wouldn’t make any difference anymore. Can you see it?” He explained. 

 

Hyunjae just nodded. “You know it, she knows it, everyone in both our companies know it. If you two were to date for real, it’s not going to make any difference to everyone else. They’ll just think you two are together and that’s it.” Hyunjoon added. 

 

He just shrugged. “I’m...scared. Feeling this way about someone is scary, I’m getting overwhelmed by it.” 

 

“That’s what love does to you,” Haknyeon pointed out. “Are you going to tell her how you feel?” 

 

“Maybe, maybe not” He said. 

 

“You should, and you better” Sangyeon advised. “Like I said, you don’t have anything to lose anymore now that people think and believe that you two are together.” 

 

“Maybe when we’ve got time, and when she’s got time” Hyunjae replied. 

 

“You might want to do that as soon as possible, you never know when the arrangement might end” Hyunjoon said. 

 

“It hasn’t been six months yet” He pointed out. 

 

“You never know” Sangyeon patted his shoulder. “Just tell her. We can even help you if you want” he added. 

 

The younger boy shook his head. This was something he preferred he deal with himself. He remembered that popular saying, that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and it couldn’t be any truer with him. The more he wasn’t able to see her, the more he missed and wanted to see her. 

 

But little did he know, the rest of his groupmates were still determined to help him confront his own feelings. Sangyeon, Haknyeon, and Hyunjoon crept outside the practice room, giving Sunwoo and Changmin knowing looks, and they nodded. “Knowing Hyunjae, he’s going to prefer sleeping this off” Sangyeon said, leading them to one of the empty conference rooms. 

 

“But how are we going to get him to do what we’re probably planning to do? Hyung’s lazy everywhere else” Haknyeon pointed out with a slight frown. He was the reason why their room was always a little cluttered. 

 

“That’s exactly why we’re out here, where he won’t hear us” Sangyeon said. “If only there was a way for us to get the two of them in the same place and admit that they like each other” he looked up in thought. 

 

“I think we’ll need help in helping them too” Hyunjoon said. 

 

The three of them exchanged looks with each other. “NCT” they said in unison. Sangyeon took his phone out of his pocket and looked for Kun’s, Ten’s, and Doyoung’s numbers. “I wonder if he’s got the numbers of the noonadeul” he muttered, while Haknyeon and Hyunjoon took their phones out as well. 

 

Haknyeon stopped at Lucas, Mark, Xiaojun, and Hendery’s numbers. Hyunjoon on the other hand, looked for the numbers of Jeno, Jaemin, Renjun, Donghyuck, and YangYang. “First one to say they’ve got it is the winner?” Hyunjoon grinned at his own suggestion. 

 

“We just need at least one of their numbers. I’m pretty sure Doyoung’s got one of them saved on his phone” Sangyeon said, and the three of them sat down on the chairs, sending messages to each of the people they knew. 

 

The door of the room slowly opened and the heads of Changmin and Jacob peeked in. “Need help?” they asked. 

 

“Yes we do! Text the NCT guys if they’ve got the numbers of the noonadeul” Haknyeon gestured for them to come in, and they sat down, closing and locking the door behind them. 

 

“Jaehyun, Jung Jaehyun,” Jacob began. “Is the only one from them who knows that this is an arrangement. If he doesn’t have the numbers of any of Juhyun noona’s members, then I’ll be surprised.” 

 

“Johnny hyung might know, or would he only know Juhyun noona’s number?” Hyunjoon asked, fixated on typing messages and tapping his phone. 

 

After a while, they waited for a reply, their phones in the middle of the table to see whose would light up first. “What if no one from them knows any of their numbers?” Haknyeon suddenly asked.

 

“We can’t think that!” Changmin chided. “It’s impossible that no one from them knows, when they’re practically labelmates and are close” He said. 

 

“The next best option is to ask an EXO sunbaenim, but that seems highly unlikely, isn’t it?” Sangyeon said. “Maybe we can save that as a last resort” and they all nodded. 

 

A moment later and all of their phones began to light up. The five of them reached out for their respective phones to check the notifications. “Jaemin has one,” Hyunjoon said. “Yuhee noona”

 

“Doyoung’s got two,” Sangyeon added. “Juhyun noona and Subin noona”

 

“Taeyong hyung’s got two, Juhyun and Jiwon noona,” Changmin replied. “Jungwoo’s got one too. Jiwon noona.” 

 

“Lucas has two,” Haknyeon said. “Hyunae and Juhyun noona.” 

 

They all looked at Jacob. “Jaehyun’s got all of theirs” He said, and all of them cheered and hit high fives. “He’ll let one of them know he’s giving me their number” He added. 

 

~ 

 

Jiwon, Hyunae, Yuhee, and Subin assembled at the SMTown COEX Artium. The four of them kept their hair under hats and wore masks. It was a weak attempt at keeping a low profile but they knew they had to if they were going to meet some of Hyunjae’s groupmates after getting a text from one of them. Jiwon kept checking her phone for a message. “What did you tell Juhyun where we were going?” she asked the maknae. 

 

“I told her we were going to get food and drinks” Yuhee replied, and they sat down at the farthest corner of the coffee shop. “Where are they?” She looked around. 

 

“Maybe we should’ve done this within the company, I’m getting a bad feeling about this” Subin muttered. 

 

“There’s no other place” Jiwon said to the younger girl. She sat up when she saw four guys, who were also wearing masks and hats come in. “I think that’s them” she said, noticing how they were approaching them. 

 

The four guys sat down on the other table next to theirs. “Juhyun’s in love with Hyunjae” Jiwon said. 

 

“Hyunjae’s in love with Juhyun noona” Sangyeon replied, and all eight of them pulled their masks down. “I think we can agree that they need to tell each other how they really feel” He added. 

 

“We do too. But how do we do it? Just to put it out there, nothing too public” Hyunae said. “Nothing that’s going to catch everyone else’s attention, so something a little more...intimate.” 

 

“Okay, we’ll keep that in mind” Jacob said. “Anything else?” 

 

“We need to get the two of them in the same place somehow, maybe we can coordinate schedules” Hyunae replied. “Will you boys be flying out of here anytime soon?” They shook their heads. “Great, neither are we because our anniversary concert is coming up.” 

 

“All of you are welcome to come to the show, by the way” Yuhee chimed in. “But going back, how can we surprise them with this kind of thing? It’s clear they like each other but something seems to be stopping them.” 

 

They all seemed to agree. “Hyunjae’s scared because he’s never felt this way about anyone before” Sangyeon recalled. 

 

“I think unnie’s scared too, but she’s just scared to get hurt again, I think” Subin shrugged. “She’s just fretting because her parents both like and don’t like the fact that she’s dating Hyunjae.” 

 

“Why?” The boys asked. 

 

“You know, the usual stuff, the age gap, and the fact that her mother likes Hyungsik instead of him, and then there’s the bad part, like the suspicion that Hyunjae’s dating her to become more popular” Jiwon explained, frowning at the latter part. 

 

“I can’t deny she’s got chemistry with Hyungsik sunbae, but she’s got more chemistry with Hyunjae if you ask me” Sangyeon pointed out. “Even if I haven’t watched her musical yet..” 

 

“You should, I’ll take you” Jacob suggested. 

 

“Speaking of which, it’s the last performance this week, try and see it while you can” Hyunae reminded them. She sat up when she remembered something, and an idea suddenly popped into her head. “...I think I have an idea, but Hyunjae might not like it.” 

 

All eyes and ears turned to her. “I think I know what you’re thinking” Jacob eyed her. “But please  explain it anyway.” 

 

~ 

 

The next few days had Juhyun running back and forth from the studio to her apartment and to the theater. It was finally the last week and the last day of their musical’s run, and even though trying to manage everything was tough, she enjoyed performing on the stage. She was reminded on how there was going to be a cast party for the last ever performance, and she knew Hyungsik would be expecting to see her there. 

 

But it made her think of Hyunjae. They hadn’t seen or called or texted each other at all lately, but she knew that if she did start talking to him, that would be all she wanted to do and she hated to think it could actually happen. “That’ll be me getting whipped over whatever he does” She muttered to herself while she parked her car in the theater parking lot, where she saw the crowds of fans who were waiting for her, cameras and phones held up to take pictures and videos. 

 

Juhyun forced a smile and a wave to everyone. “Go inside now!” She told them. “Go inside! Get away from the sun!” she added with a laugh, and they remained taking photos and slowly scattered to leave the back entrance. As the doors closed behind her, she let out a sigh and continued walking down the hall to where her dressing room was. For some reason, she had hoped that he could come. 

 

She stopped by the costume racks and picked up her costume while greeting the rest of her co-stars and staff members and approached her dressing room. The current scandal surrounding Subin’s ex-boyfriend was still very much talked about, and it suddenly made her very cautious of being in her room alone. She looked through every inch of her dressing room, and even checked the mirrors to see if it was a two-way mirror or not. 

 

Seeing that everything was clear, she put her bag down and began to get dressed, being careful enough not to mess up her hair and some makeup that she already had on. Juhyun sat down on the couch when she was done, and looked through her script. She had been so caught up in the songs she was rearranging for the concert that she was a little scared that she might have forgotten her lines, or the chunk of lines she actually had. 

 

There was a knock on the door, and she looked up. “It’s open” she said. 

 

The head of her manager, Chunhee, peeked in. “I came by to check on you since I couldn’t take you here. How are you doing?” he asked. 

 

“Pretty good, I just arrived not too long ago. Are you going to watch? It’s the last day” she said. “I’ve been told we’ve got our one and only fansign for this too” she added. 

 

Chunhee nodded. “You know me, I’m coming, so are the girls” he said. “Oh right, both of you haven’t gotten around to the scheduled dates, huh?” He asked, and she shook her head. “Well, it’s understandable, both of you have been so busy.” 

 

Juhyun put her script down. “Oppa, I think-” 

 

“You’ve really fallen in love with Hyunjae?” He said. 

 

Juhyun gaped at him. “How did you know that? Did the girls tell you?” She asked, feeling her heart skip a beat in surprise. 

 

He laughed and nodded. “Yes they did. But I’m not going to lie when I say that I kind of anticipated this possibility.” 

 

“You did?” She raised a brow. 

 

“Yeah. Both of you are pushed into a situation where you’re only bound to focus on each other. It’s almost like we set the two of you up on a blind date” He explained. “And the girls told me other things you two have done, and I think it’s great that you finally found someone who makes you feel better about yourself again, aside from us of course” He gave her a knowing look. 

 

Juhyun smiled at him. “I hope you take over as the next CEO of the company in the future” she said. 

 

Chunhee laughed and shook his head. “I’m perfectly content with being your manager.” 

 

“Then don’t stop being our manager” She said. “Be our manager throughout our whole career” She added. 

 

“It would be the dream” He smiled back. 

 

“Then let us be the bridesmaids when you get married too” Juhyun added, and it got him flustered. “I really can’t think of anyone else who can put up with our craziness.” 

 

Chunhee beamed with pride. “It comes with the job, an extreme amount of patience” He joked, making her laugh. He bent down in front of her. “You and Hyunjae belong together, and it’s a good thing too while this arrangement is still on.” 

 

Juhyun nodded. “The last thing we need is to be informed that the whole arrangement is off and that we’re no longer allowed to see each other ever again, even if that seems impossible.” 

 

The door opened again, and the production assistant suddenly peeked inside. “Ten minutes Juhyun” they said, and closed the door again. 

 

The two of them got up. Chunhee opened his arms for a hug and she hugged him tightly. “Break a leg, ninja leader” He beamed as he pulled away. 

 

“Break a leg” Juhyun smiled and left the room. 

 

~ 

 

Meanwhile, the boys were busy practicing their new choreography. Hyunjae seemed to keep glancing at the clock while they practiced. He knew it was the last performance today, and the members were also giving each other knowing looks. Knowing that they had a plan, Changmin stuck to the usual, and kept pointing out if any one of them were missing a beat in the steps, including Hyunjae, so he wouldn’t suspect anything. 

 

“We know it’s her last show today, but try and focus, alright?” The main dancer told him. 

 

“Yes, sorry” He said quietly, and they started all over again. He had hoped he would be able to make it, but from how long they were going to practice, the chances were seemingly very slim. 

 

The rest of the members eyed each other, and this time, Sangyeon was the one who spoke. “Maybe this is enough practicing for today, we can practice some more tomorrow” He suggested. “I think we can play today, right?” 

 

“Yeah! We can! I recently found the best place! There’s this new arcade that just opened!” Haknyeon suggested excitedly. “We should go there!” 

 

“An arcade? You guys can go without me, I think I’ll just sleep” He said. 

 

“No, no, hyung, you have to check it out now before we won’t have time to later,” Hyunjoon cut in, shaking his head. “Come with us to the arcade.” 

 

Hyunjae gave the younger boy a look. “Unless there’s a game there that I really want to play, I think I’d rather sleep.” 

 

“There is a game you’d want to play! Remember that House of the Dead game? The one you’ve been wanting to try but never got to?” Haknyeon thought of it quickly. “That arcade has it! Even the new Injustice characters!” 

 

“Those are two separate games” He pointed out. 

 

“The arcade has those two separate games, hyung!” Haknyeon repeated. 

 

“Just come with us, it’ll be fun” Sangyeon assured him. “You’ve got the rest of the night to sleep” He added. He checked his phone, and saw a message from the girls’ manager. 

 

_ Chunhee hyung: The dressing room is clear. I’m currently watching the last show. Move quickly.  _

 

Sangyeon gave Jacob a knowing look while they let Juyeon, Younghoon, and Kevin guide Hyunjae out of the room. They got dressed and freshened up to leave, getting in the van where their manager was waiting. Their manager was also in on the plan. “Can we stop by the arcade tonight? It’s still open, isn’t it?” Sangyeon leaned forward, making sure his face wasn’t in view of the mirror. 

 

“Yeah, I just checked and it’s still open” They said, and began to drive away. 

 

The younger members cheered! “Arcade time! Arcade time! There’s no time like an arcade time” Kevin sing-songed while doing a little dance in his seat. 

 

“How come all of you know about this arcade except me?” He asked them curiously. Hyunjae was beginning to sense something different. They’d usually go straight to the dorm after practice but this time they weren’t. He looked at the time on his phone. The musical had already started. He looked through their photos on his phone. 

 

He wanted to be at the show, but he knew he couldn’t even when he had already seen the musical several times. He had already come to terms with it. Lee Jaehyun was in love. Lee Jaehyun, the one who never really believed in serendipity, the one who laughs at people getting sappy over romance, was stupidly in love with Choi Juhyun. 

 

Still, the thought scared him, overwhelmed him enough to make him sleep it off a few times. Hyunjae took a deep breath, then sent Juhyun a message, the first one in a while. 

 

_ Hyunjae: Break a leg.  _

 

As he pressed send, he pocketed his phone and sat back to try and sleep a little. 

 

~ 

 

It had finally reached the last scene of the musical, and as Juhyun stayed in character, she snuck a glance at the audience, in the hopes of seeing him there. She knew the members had arrived to watch, and Chunhee was also watching along with them. She turned back to the scene playing in front of her on stage. The lead actress was lying in Hyungsik’s arms while he cried, and more confetti was falling down from the ceiling. 

 

Before she knew it, she felt a tear roll down her cheek. She was getting a little too moved by the scene. And when the curtains began to fall in front of them, leaving their other co-star, who played a narrator in front, everyone in front of her cheered quietly and scrambled to take their respective positions for the final curtain call. 

 

Hyungsik eyed her and smiled. “Are you going to the cast party?” He mouthed. 

 

Juhyun shrugged. “Maybe” She mouthed as a reply, and she took her place next to her fellow dancers. The applause coming from the audience always seemed to give her chills. This was the last musical she had, at least until she could get casted for another one or come back for another run of her previous two musicals. 

 

The curtains opened again, and the first few sets of characters went to the center stage and bowed to everyone. They had to pause as a few people were running towards them with flowers. Then it was Juhyun’s turn, and she eyed Hyungsik again as she went center stage with her other dancer co-stars, and a louder applause could be heard. She suddenly spotted Yuhee and Subin run up to her and give her flowers and the two of them cheered as she took them, bowing as she backed up towards her spot. 

 

And then it was Hyungsik’s turn, along with the rest of the main characters, where the applause was the loudest. The rest of them applauded as well, and they gathered altogether to take a final bow to the audience. They were then followed by the directorial team and some of the staff, and Juhyun gave some of her flowers to them. 

 

The curtain fell again, and this time, cheers erupted amongst them while the music died down. “You did great” Hyungsik said to her with a grin. 

 

“You did too, as expected” Juhyun replied with a smile. 

 

“See you later? If you’re not going, I’ll still try and see you before you leave” He said, and the two of them parted ways to go to their respective waiting rooms. 

 

But even though she usually was excited during every show, this time she wasn’t as happy as she thought she’d be. Juhyun looked down at the flowers she received, partly wishing that Hyunjae would’ve also come and made his presence known in a way, maybe being the one who also came and gave her flowers. “He’s busy so I shouldn’t expect anything” She muttered, looking slightly wistful. “Maybe I could go to that cast party” she added, and tried to open the door of her waiting room. 

 

But as she opened the door, she stopped in her tracks at what she saw. There was a big bouquet of flowers on the table, and standing behind them was Hyunjae. “Hi” He said, looking a little confused. 

 

“Hey” She smiled and went inside. “Are those for me?” she asked, looking at the flowers. 

 

Hyunjae looked at the bouquet and nodded. “Yeah, the guys seem to have planned this out. This was their idea” He explained. 

 

Juhyun nodded and put the bouquets she was holding down. “So, were you able to watch? I don’t think I was able to give you a ticket for this show” She asked, and he shook his head. “Oh, but I’m glad you got to catch up here…” She said. 

 

“I did, and surprisingly, I am” Hyunjae nodded. He felt like his heart was going to jump out of his chest. This was his chance. There was no time like the present. “I love you.” 

 

Juhyun stared at him, taken by surprise at what he said. “W-what?” She wanted to hear it again to make sure. 

 

“I love you, and I want this to be real, no more pretending, no more fake-dating, I want this to be real, I want to be us, really us” He said. Juhyun looked even more in disbelief. Hyunjae went up to her. 

 

“What-” She found it in her to speak. “What about our age gap?” 

 

“I don’t care about our age gap, six years may be big, but it doesn’t matter because I just love you” Hyunjae replied. 

 

“What about your parents?” She asked in a low voice. 

 

He shook his head. “They’re supportive, that’s all you should know. They know I love you, and how I’ve fallen in love with you. Heck, even Jaehyun now knows, but it’s not going to change the fact that I’m stupidly in love with you.” 

 

Juhyun looked into his eyes, and she knew he was being sincere. Hyunjae looked into hers, and he held her hands. “The more we spent time together, I knew it was going to get harder and harder to let you go, to let this go when all this is done and over with,” She said softly, getting a little teary-eyed. “Hyunjae... Jaehyun,” she blinked back the tears. “I… love you too,” 

 

The two of them smiled at each other, feeling an intense surge of happiness inside them. “No more pretending, no more fake-dating, screw the arrangement, this is real” She added, and he agreed. 

 

“Us, really us” Hyunjae smiled, and she nodded. He leaned in for a deep kiss, wrapping his arms around her. She wrapped her arms around his neck as she kissed him back. 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this concludes the fic! I hope everyone enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you to everyone who gave me a kudos! You guys are the best! Leave a kudos and/or a comment please!

Two months later: 

The five girls of Yeosin gathered into a radio studio for their first ever recording of “Midnight with Yeosin,” the radio program they now had. Yuhee and Subin immediately went for the middle seats, followed by Hyunae, Jiwon, and Juhyun, who sat down on the rest of the unoccupied chairs behind the desk as they knew they had guests coming in. The booth assistant handed each of them the scripts and they looked through it. 

“Can you believe it? We now have our own radio program” Hyunae beamed at the thought while fitting her headset on. 

“We weren’t really told about the guests that would be coming in tonight” Yuhee pondered, but as she looked at the script, her eyes widened and she looked at the rest of the members, who also looked quite surprised. “We have a lot of guests coming tonight.” 

“Not everyone’s going to come though,” Juhyun shook her head, reading the script some more. “Just some of them. I don’t think we’ll all fit in here.” 

“They’re cute too!” Jiwon grinned. “They’re practically our brother-in-laws.” 

All heads turned to Juhyun, who just smiled to herself while reading. The rest of them exchanged knowing looks. Juhyun and Hyunjae remained together, and made it a point to inform both the man and woman who coordinated this entire arrangement of their true feelings about each other. They didn’t seem to be surprised as they thought of this being one other possibility, and have since expressed their enthusiastic support. The arrangement had since then been dissolved, allowing the two of them to freely meet up regardless of a scheduled date or not. 

Junyeol was also overjoyed to hear about their news when they broke it to him. He reminded them then that he would always be there for either one or both of them if they needed him. Finally coming through with their feelings for each other, as their groupmates had suspected, it didn’t make much of a difference to the public, including their industry friends who didn’t know. Everyone believed that they were together, and they really were. 

Chunhee suddenly came in with coffee, beaming as he handed out each of the cups to the girls. “How are my girls doing? Nervous? Excited?” He asked them. 

“Both? But mostly excited” Juhyun replied, taking a sip from her cup. Everyone else seemed to agree. 

“You won’t have much time, the guests will be coming any minute now” He said, and just then, they suddenly heard a little ruckus coming from the outside, and an echo of voices greeting people could be heard. “Speaking of which” He grinned, giving them a thumbs up before leaving the booth to stay outside. 

The five girls got up to see Sangyeon, Hyunjoon, Jacob, Haknyeon, Changmin, and Hyunjae coming in. They all bowed to each other, with Juhyun coming up to hug her boyfriend afterwards. They had just ended their promotions for their latest mini-album, which meant that both of them were not as busy now. “Did you sleep well?” He asked her while she was still in his arms. 

“I did. What about you?” She asked with a small smile, and he nodded. “Good” She said, and pulled away to sit back down on her chair which was coincidentally next to his, partly because the other boys purposely left him that seat. 

“This is the first schedule we have, both our groups” Jiwon realized, looking at all of them while the assistant passed scripts for the boys. She beamed, looking at Juhyun and Hyunjae, who were focused on their respective scripts. She noticed the producer signaling to start, and the radio ads kept playing. 

“We should record an opening for this program” Juhyun suggested. “Sometime?” and they nodded. “We can even have them sing something” She gestured to the boys, who grinned at the thought. 

~ 

All of them gathered around each other after their first program had ended for photos. Since Juhyun and Hyunjae’s confessions to each other, both their groups had become very close, and it seemed to show in their photos after the radio program. They rode the elevator going down by batches, the boys going first, and then the girls. 

They were greeted by small crowds of fans and fansites, who stood by to take photos of them entering and leaving the building. “Same time tomorrow” Chunhee reminded them while they greeted their fans on their way out of the building and towards the parking lots. They saw the van that had the boys already left, and they bid each other goodbyes as they went to their own cars. 

This was what it was like for Juhyun and Hyunjae to have a very public relationship. They had somehow gotten used to fans asking them about each other, including people within the industry during variety or talk shows, not that they went on many but they were still asked from time to time. Regardless, they preferred to keep a low-profile now and went back to hardly posting anything on their social media accounts. 

She approached her car, and grinned as she saw Hyunjae waiting for her, already leaning against the door of the passenger’s seat. “I thought you went home” she said, coming up to him for another hug. 

“It’s been months since we last met like this, now I’m free to do whatever I want until the next comeback and overseas schedules” He explained, the two of them pulling away so they could get in the car. 

Juhyun drove them down to a shopping district, wearing hats and masks to cover their faces even if they knew that everyone knew about them. The two of them walked down the street, going in and out of a few shops after looking around. Hyunjae had his arm around her waist while they walked, already comfortable doing gestures like this out in public. 

“Have you ever thought about how public we’ve gotten?” She suddenly asked, looking up at him. “Like everyone knows, and it’s like those on-screen couples on movies and tv. Doesn’t it make you feel a little conscious?” 

Hyunjae pulled down his mask and smiled. He leaned in to whisper in her ear. “When we’re in public, and we want to let each other know how much we love each other, it’s because we really are in love.” 

Juhyun felt her heart flutter. “You sound like some leading man in a drama.” 

“Your leading man,” He pointed out and they laughed. They stopped in front of a store, and smiled at the print ad plastered on its window. It was of both of them, and the endorsement deal they received together. They were the next couple to receive a deal like this. “They should’ve used the other photo” He commented. 

She gave him a look. “What other photo?” 

“The one where we’re just looking at each other. I thought we looked nicer there” He replied. 

“We’ve got a lot of photos like that, remember? We don’t need to rub it in everyone’s faces that we’re together” She reminded him with a nudge. 

Hyunjae turned to her. “Knowing that everyone knows we’re together, what’s the use of hiding our faces?” He asked, taking off his mask and his cap to show his hair. “Let’s take a proper walk” He said with a big smile. 

Juhyun looked up at him, staring into his eyes. She took her cap and mask off as well, and she could sense some people already catching a glimpse of them and recognizing who they were. “You could end up getting into trouble because of me, going on a walk with me after schedules” She teased. 

 

He shook his head. “Not possible. The most that’ll happen is that they’ve long wondered when we were going to see each other next” He explained, looking smug. He took her hand and laced their fingers together. “This is a date. Like you said, anything a couple decides to do on a day is an instant date” He pointed out. 

“I’m not being so awkward yet, am I?” She asked as they pressed on, walking further along the shops. 

“What you think is awkward, I think is great” Hyunjae grinned, obviously teasing. “We haven’t had that overseas date that was planned before” He glanced at her while they walked. 

“You’re busy, I was busy, we were both busy so we never got around to that” Juhyun explained. “Are you thinking we should go overseas together?” she asked. 

“Maybe sometime, we could” He suggested. 

“Really? Wouldn’t you prefer staying in instead?” Juhyun teased. 

He shrugged. “I don’t know, but when I’m with you, I feel like I want to do a lot of things” He said. 

She raised a brow at him. “What kind of things?” 

“Like travel alone, or go on a road trip, anything that involves going out and spending time with you” Hyunjae replied, and she couldn’t help but laugh. “What’s so funny?” 

Juhyun shook her head and held his hand tighter. “I was thinking the same thing. For now, staying in works fine with me, but you’ve got overseas schedules” She pointed out. “You’ve got my selcas in your phone if you miss me, and I’m a video call away” She added. 

They stopped in front of a space between two shops. Hyunjae looked around in case anyone was watching them. “You too.” 

“You know, if we had never been pushed into an arrangement to be together, I don’t think we wouldn’t have been together” She said. “Even if I got hit by that ball.” 

Hyunjae just smiled. “Maybe, but I like this reality better” and he gave her a quick peck before they kept walking. “You’d probably be with Hyungsik sunbae” he teased, and she nudged him. 

“Maybe, and we’d probably even be married now since he’s already enlisted” She teased back, and he nudged her as well, the two of them laughing as they kept walking. 

Hyunjae pulled her close. “I don’t want to think about that possibility” He pouted at her. 

“You don’t have to, I mean, you’ve still got years to go until you can’t delay it anymore” Juhyun assured him. For a moment, it reminded her of how old they were. 

“And we’ll get married before I go? You’ll write to me? And see me at events?” Hyunjae pouted at her some more. 

Juhyun nodded. “I’ll do all of that” She patted his cheek. “I’ll be there sending you off and waiting for you when you get discharged.” 

He smiled, feeling relieved. “I knew it would be you” He reached over for her hand. 

“Me?” She asked. 

He nodded. “You. All the things back then that I’ve wondered, even before we were together. I knew it would be you.” 

~ 

Halloween had come, and the day before, Yeosin was already preparing for the SM Halloween party. It was still quite an event to look forward to despite the big controversies surrounding the other half of Yeosin’s agency. They had two more Halloween parties to attend the day after, one for their own company, and another one among friends, which was going to start earlier for the minors to be able to make curfew. 

Juhyun had long contemplated on what to dress as for the occasion. She had already done Harley Quinn a few times. Eventually, she settled for dressing up as Bongsoon, from the drama. She put on a short wig, and chuckled at her look. She slipped on the rest of her costume and the prop she was going to use to make people know who she was going as. It seemed too easy, but it was all she could think of. 

She heard the doorbell ring, and she looked at the security camera to see who it was. It was Hyunjae, and she grinned when she saw what he was dressed as. She opened the door and leaned against the wall as he came into view. “Min-Min?” 

“BongBong” He grinned and greeted her with a peck. “Are you ready? The short hair looks good on you” He added. 

“Very ready, oh wait, let me get my prop” She rushed back inside and came back out with the prop. “Ready. Let’s go” She said, and they went to the elevators. “Short hair has never looked good on me though, you’re just saying that” Juhyun nudged him. 

Hyunjae laughed and shook his head. “A bad haircut’s not going to stop me from loving you” He said, and reached up to ruffle her hair only for Juhyun to slap his hand away. “Hey!” He laughed some more. 

“Don’t touch the wig!” Juhyun laughed as well. “We’re probably either early or late” She said, looking at the floor numbers go down. 

“We’re on time, I’ll take us there this time” He said, making Juhyun look at him. Hyunjae took out his wallet and showed him his driver’s license.

Juhyun looked impressed. “Over the time we didn’t see each other, you took the exams?” She said. 

“I managed my time well, didn’t I? It’s my turn to take you around, only it’s the manager’s car” He grinned sheepishly. 

“Better that than nothing, or you can borrow mine” Juhyun suggested. She linked her arm with his and fished her phone out of her pocket. They posed for a few selcas until the elevator doors opened and they stepped out. 

“Alright then, we’re driving your car” He said, and she handed him the keys. The two of them got in, Hyunjae feeling especially confident when he got into the driver’s seat. He watched her fasten her seatbelt and sit back. 

“What?” She said, noticing the way he was looking at her. 

Hyunjae smiled. “Nothing, I just like looking at you” he said. 

Juhyun raised a brow. “I know the short hair’s not my style and you’re probably going to make fun of me for it when we go there.” 

He laughed out loud. “I wouldn’t! You look cute!” He took his phone out to take a picture and she kept covering the camera. “My BongBong looks so cute” 

“Ya! Stop it!” Juhyun laughed. 

~ 

They soon arrived at a hotel, where they booked the event space for their party. They wound up settling for a hotel function room given how many they were. Hyunjae pulled up in front of the entrance where the room was and the two of them got down, leaving the keys to the valet. 

They saw the car behind them stop as well, and it was Hyunae with her boyfriend Kangho, both of them dressed as a doctor and a nurse. “Look who’s here” Juhyun said, the two of them greeting the other couple while they came in. 

“Kangho, this is Juhyun’s boyfriend, Jaehyun, Jaehyun, my boyfriend Kangho” Hyunae introduced them, and they exchanged bows and shook hands. 

“Yeah, the knight in shining armor that helped her after the soccer ball incident. I’m glad it ended up with you two dating” He said. 

Hyunjae and Juhyun looked at each other. “We’re glad too” They beamed. 

The couples kept walking, and to Juhyun and Hyunae’s surprise, they saw Jiwon, dressed like a full-fledged Catwoman with an out-of-uniform Shinwoo. “Shinwoo!” The two girls went up to him and greeted him, Kangho following behind. 

“Longtime boyfriend” Kangho pointed out to the younger, who nodded as they approached the third couple. 

“How have you been? How is army life treating you?” Juhyun said. 

Shinwoo patted her shoulder. “Very well, very well, it’s tough but that’s how it is,” He noticed Hyunjae. “Ah, Jiwon’s been telling me about you,” He glanced back at Juhyun knowingly. “Congratulations, lucky guy” He grinned, and Hyunjae looked a little flustered but he was proud of the fact nonetheless. 

The six of them stepped inside the room that had music blasting all over. The costumed members of NCT, along with the rest of The Boyz, were already in there, talking in one corner, eating in another. Miyoung, their soloist, was also present, dressed as a flight attendant, talking to Sangyeon, who was dressed as a fireman and Kun, who came as an old-timey detective at one table. Subin, who came as Sally was talking to Changmin, who was dressed as Steve Jobs while Yuhee, dressed as Storm was talking animatedly to Chenle, who came as Chucky and Jisung, who came as a cute mouse. Both of whom were laughing in their seats. 

“A-yo, we’re your moonlight boys, I’m Kevin” said the boy dressed as Hawkeye.

“And I’m Taeil” said the older boy, who was dressed as a pilot.

“We’re your sunshines, I’m Sunwoo” said the boy who was dressed in a prawn onesie.

“And I’m Haechan, and we’re going to be your MCs for tonight’s party!” They suddenly announced, the four of them coming up to the little platform in front. Everyone suddenly turned their attention to the front. “We’ll all be voting for best costume tonight!” He announced. 

“What does the best costume get?” Lucas suddenly called out. He was dressed as another superhero, Black Panther. He was talking to Haknyeon, who was dressed as a zookeeper, Mark, who came as Detective Conan again, Hendery, who came as Prince Eric, and Xiaojun, who came as Spiderman.

“The best costume gets a Wii!” Sunwoo replied. “Second place gets a movie voucher! Third place gets a chicken coupon!” He announced the rest, and gestured to the displays behind them. 

“I’m so glad we’re all able to throw this party before going to the others” Juhyun told them as they settled down on one table. 

“Didn’t you know? It’s a joint Halloween party between our agencies this year” Hyunae revealed. “That’s why a lot of us are here. NCT just decided to crash” she added with a laugh. “I think it’s got to do with the two of you” She grinned. 

Juhyun looked surprised, but Hyunjae looked at her like he was surprised she didn’t know. He found out before he left the dorm. “Oh, no one really told me about that, not even Chunhee oppa” she explained with a shrug. She turned to Shinwoo. “Are you sticking around until the end of this party?”

“Maybe, just until Jiwon wants to leave, I’m on a little vacation leave, and I won’t be back until the day after tomorrow” He explained with a smile, turning back to his girlfriend. 

“How long have they been together?” Hyunjae whispered in Juhyun’s ear. 

“Six years” She whispered back, and he gave her a look of surprise which eventually turned into impressed. “They’re the most stable couple from all of us so far” She added. 

Hyunjae took her hand in his again. “You don’t mind if we become like that?” He asked with a small smile. 

She smiled back at him. “I don’t mind it at all. I actually prefer it that way” She squeezed his hand. “Lee Jaehyun, how in the world did we ever get to this point?” She muttered. 

He suddenly remembered the day they met, and what he was saying before they saw each other for the first time that day. “Serendipity.” 

Juhyun looked impressed. “You think we had a fortunate accident?” 

“I hate to prove Juyeon and Younghoon right, but I do” He nodded with a laugh. 

“He loves that movie, doesn’t he?” She asked. 

“Yeah, more than The Notebook nowadays, and that’s saying something” He said. 

The softly playing music in the background soon turned into an upbeat one, and a lot of them were starting to move to the center of the room to dance. Juhyun and Hyunjae watched the rest of the couples they were with move over to the dance floor as well, all of them laughing and cheering in their costumes. 

~ 

Juhyun was the one who drove them back this time. She remembered their conversation before. She glanced at him. “Jaehyun, do you remember what you told me before? How you said you knew it was me?” She asked. “What was that about?” 

Hyunjae smiled as he remembered it and sat up. “I’ve been partly wondering about what’s going to happen to me down the road, especially before or when I finally go off to enlist” he replied. 

“Recently? Or have you wondered that for a long time?” She asked. 

“For a long time, during our debut” He glanced at her as well. Juhyun nodded. “But when I started to fall in love with you, it felt like I finally had the answer to those. When I really asked you and you said yes, I was even more assured” He explained. 

She smiled. “Lee Jaehyun, you just keep surprising me about yourself” She said quietly. She pulled the brakes when they reached a red light, and she took the time to get rid of the wig, throwing it to the back, making him laugh. 

“You say that like I’m the only one that’s surprising” He replied. He looked out the window and then back at her. He wasn’t sure how he could say the rest of what he wanted to say to her. All he knew was that he wanted to be with her for a long time, perhaps forever. 

Juhyun was thinking the same thing as well. She had a string of bad relationships here, but this time, she was confident that Hyunjae might be it. She looked over at him. “What was surprising about me anyway aside from the soccer ball to the face?” She joked. 

He laughed as well. “You really can’t see it? Then it’s a good thing I’m with you, because I’ll keep reminding you.” 

She shook her head. “I don’t know, I don’t think I’m doing a good job. Even until now, I don’t know if I’m being a good girlfriend to you” she glanced at him. 

“Tell me you’re kidding, and I’ll forgive you” he teased. 

She laughed. “I’m serious! I’m just- I’d rather be all lovey dovey when we’re alone, without many people watching, I don’t know” She shrugged. 

“We’ve been lovey dovey in public for months,” Hyunjae pointed out with a grin. “And that was before we really liked each other.” 

“I know, I know, and we’ve kissed out of character in more than one occasion.” She added. The light changed to green and she started driving again. Juhyun steered away from their usual route and went to the nearby park. She parked the car. “Let’s take another walk along the park, it’s nice at this time” she smiled. 

Juhyun got down from the car and so did he, and he reached out for her hand. She took it. “You know, I have a feeling I’m always going to love you” Hyunjae said quietly. 

“I feel the same way” She said, and laced their fingers together. 

They started walking down the path, Hyunjae letting go to wrap his arm around her waist and she did the same.


End file.
